I Hate That You Love Me
by whataboutus
Summary: So Cat's a little weird. Everyone knows that. But Tori is running out of plausible reasons to defend all of the things that the red-haired girl says and does. Tori/Cat.
1. The Funeral

**Disclaimer: I do not now, nor will I ever own Victorious. Bummer ...**

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><p><strong>Chapter One<strong>

**The Funeral**

"…And so, we gather here today to say farewell to a good … friend. One who will never be forgotten and always be in our hearts. Mr. Snickerdoodle was taken from us way too soon."

Mr. Sikowitz paused to evaluate the room. A few students were shifting in their seats; a couple more in the back were giggling. Jade West was sitting in the front row, with her arms crossed and a scowl on her face. Her boyfriend Beck Oliver had his arm around her, and was looking down at the ground.

"This is ridiculous", Jade whispered through gritted teeth.

"Just relax", Beck whispered back.

Mr. Sikowitz cleared his throat and continued speaking.

"Well, that's about it then. Would anyone like to say a few words about our deceased feline friend?"

The room went completely silent.

"Didn't think so", Mr. Sikowitz muttered. "Well – back to class then."

"Wait, I want to say something", piped up a small voice. A hand flew into the air, as the girl with bright red hair attached to it jumped up.

Cat Valentine quickly strutted up to the stage to join Mr. Sikowitz who looked completely grateful for a chance to sit down. He motioned toward the podium and looked around for a nearby chair. There was none, so he dropped down onto the floor.

"I only knew Mr. Snickerdoodle for a couple of weeks, but it was a great couple of weeks", began the redhead. "He came up to me one day as I was leaving school and rubbed against my leg. He seemed to be friendly so I gave him a cookie from my bag. That's where I got the name Mr. Snickerdoodle. Every day after school since then I'd always see him in the same spot waiting for me. I never saw him in the mornings, until this morning. When I found him … dead."

A few students snickered.

"Can you speed this up before the rest of us die also? We're not getting any younger, girl!" snapped Rex the puppet. Robbie Shapiro gasped and quickly covered the puppet's mouth with his hand.

"I wish I knew what happened to you, Mr. Snickerdoodle", Cat continued, hesitantly. "You were too young to die." She looked around the room at everyone, expecting some sadness, but it appeared to be quite the opposite. Cat caught Jade's eye, and gasped at the intense anger she saw.

"Ok, I'm done", Cat said, shuffling her feet back and forth. She looked over at Mr. Sikowitz who was still on the floor, nodding and shaking his head fervently, in what appeared to be a heavy debate with himself.

"Mr. Sikowitz?" Cat shyly tapped her teacher's shoulder.

"No, I can't have them do that in class. But it's a wonderful idea. But I think it might be illegal. But maybe not in this state!"

"Mr. … Sikowitz?" Cat slowly drew her arm away and shrugged.

"I'll look up the law to see if it's legal. I wonder where I'd find a list of laws. Is there a law book? Maybe I'll ask a lawyer. Mother had a good lawyer that time she robbed the bagel store. Maybe I'll give him a call. What was his name again, I think-?"

"HEY!" Jade shouted, standing up. "Can we please end this meaningless event? NOW?"

Beck slumped down into his seat, burying his face in his hand.

"Oh, the funeral!" exclaimed Mr. Sikowitz, getting up. "Is it over yet?" A few students shrugged. Others looked around confusedly.

"I just gave my speech", said Cat. "Maybe someone else wants to?"

"Noooo", came a few voices at once.

"Then I officially declare this funeral over. Please return to your classes everyone. Now where's my coconut?"

Everyone stood up and began to shuffle out of the classroom. Many people were laughing. Beck picked his girlfriend's bag off of the floor and handed it to her with a small smile.

"That wasn't so terrible, was it?"

"Yes." Jade snatched her bag.

"You're telling me. A funeral for a cat? That's crazy", Rex said as he and Robbie walked by.

"Not as crazy as ordering six boxes of pizza last night ", replied Robbie.

"Hey, man, those anchovies were delicious!" Rex shot back.

The pair of them left the room arguing.

Cat stood in place, swinging her arms back and forth. She smiled as Beck and Jade passed by.

"Thanks for coming you guys."

"No problem, Cat", answered Beck.

"Yeah, whatever", Jade said in a monotone, walking past the red-haired girl without even looking at her. Beck sighed loudly and then followed his girlfriend out.

Mr. Sikowitz, who was crouched in the corner with his coconut, sucked the remaining milk out and walked back over to the stage. He put the coconut down on the table and picked up the small black box. It was beginning to smell.

"Are you going to bury Mr. Snickerdoodle now?" asked Cat, skipping up to her teacher.

"Who?" Mr. Sikowitz furrowed his brow. "Oh, the cat. Yes, I'm going to bury him outside."

"Can I come? I want to say one last goodbye."

"Tell you what, Cat. You go to your class and then when school is over you can go over to where Mr. Stickerfoodle is buried and talk to him all night."

"But-" Cat protested.

"I am holding a dead, decaying, rather odorous cat in a box and I'd rather not be. Don't worry your pretty little synthetically red colored head. I'll take care of this."

And with that Mr. Sikowitz strutted out of the classroom, holding the box out in front of him. Cat stood there with her mouth open, as she had been about to respond, but forgot what she wanted to say. She closed her mouth and frowned.

"That was pretty dope, huh?" Andre Harris said, approaching. Tori Vega was next to him. "I mean really dope. We missed over half of class for this." At the sad look on Cat's face, Tori elbowed Andre in the ribs.

"I mean uh, what a meaningful experience." Andre put on the biggest smile he could muster.

"Sikowitz went to go bury Mr. Snickerdoodle and won't let me come", Cat spoke softly. "I wanted to say goodbye."

"I thought that the whole point of the funeral –oof", Andre shook his foot in pain when Tori stomped on it.

"Yes – saying goodbye is rather important", Andre said, making sure to pronounce each word. He quickly turned to scowl at Tori.

"I know it's kind of weird, but I really liked Mr. Snickerdoodle", Cat admitted.

"I guess it makes sense that you would get attached to a cat, huh", Tori remarked, smiling at her friend and reaching out to rub her arm.

"I just wish I could watch him get buried. Hey – do you guys want to come with me? Sikowitz couldn't have gotten too far."

"I'd love to, but I've got some math to learn". Andre dodged Tori's incoming foot and started running out of the classroom trying to hold back his laughter. Cat spun around to look at the doorway, but Andre was gone.

"I guess he really likes math", Cat said, turning back to Tori. "I don't. Too many numbers. That's why I'm glad cell phones can store numbers because how are we supposed to memorize them all? I wonder how people did it back in the old days before cell phones existed. So will you come with me to see Mr. Snickerdoodle being buried?"

Tori was amazed at how quickly her friend could change the subject. She could think of only a few things she'd rather do than go see a cat being buried (going to class was certainly not one of them). But she was sure homework was going to be assigned, whether there was five minutes or even two minutes left of science class. However, the pout on Cat's face was enough to melt her insides.

"Come on. We better hurry."

"Yay!"

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><p>Tori and Cat caught up to Sikowitz quickly. They found him standing outside near the lunch tables, sucking milk from another coconut, and swinging his head back and forth. There was no music playing. Mr. Sikowitz had put the black box on the other side of the table. After a few minutes, he turned the coconut upside down and shook it. When nothing came out, he frowned and tossed it in the air behind him. Tori and Cat had to quickly duck to avoid being the unlucky bowling pins.<p>

Mr. Sikowitz sat on the edge of the table and tried to slide his way to the other side. The surface must not have been smooth enough, because he ended up toppling over onto the ground. He quickly stood up and braced himself.

"I'm all right, don't be alarmed", he said out loud, looking around. When no one responded, he grabbed the black box and strode over to a large area of dirt, where a hole had already been dug.

Cat peered over the side of the table to see where Sikowitz was and motioned to Tori to follow her as she started crawling.

"Cat he's all the way over there we don't have to crawl!" Tori whispered loudly in protest. Cat turned around and shushed her. Tori gasped in offense and crossed her arms.

"Come on!" called Cat from ahead. Tori growled, rolled her eyes and followed the crawling girl.

Mr. Sikowitz placed the black box into the hole, and gently kicked it. It rolled onto its side and Mr. Sikowitz shrieked in surprise as the top of the box fell off. Meanwhile, Cat and Tori situated themselves behind a large nearby bush. There was a small gap for them to look through.

"What on Earth is he doing?" whispered Tori.

Cat looked upset.

"He's hurting Mr. Snickerdoodle! Oh, wait … never mind."

Mr. Sikowitz prodded the box right side up with his foot. He turned his head to face the opposite direction as he bent down and quickly replaced the cover on the box.

"I don't get paid enough for this", he muttered. "I am a teacher, not an undertaker. A professional."

Cat watched in horror as Mr. Sikowitz started to stomp on the box, pushing it deeper and deeper into the hole. She started to stand up and was about to say something, but Tori grabbed her arm and pulled her back down.

"We're not supposed to be here, remember?" Tori hissed.

"Yeah, right", Cat answered, turning to face away from the bush and grabbing her own legs. She rocked back and forth. "I can't watch this."

"So what happened to Mr. Snickerdoodle anyway?" asked Tori, trying to take her friend's mind off of the unnecessary dead cat torture. "Was he old?"

"No", replied Cat, still rocking back and forth. "He was just a baby. He had his whole life ahead of him."

"So what happened?"

"I found him dead in the parking lot this morning, completely squished." Cat looked like she was about to burst into tears. "Some evil person must have run him over!"

"I'm sure it was an accident", Tori said reassuringly. She took Cat's hand in her own and squeezed it gently.

"But Tori, even if it was, the person who did it didn't say anything! They just completely ignored the fact that they killed a living breathing creature!"

"Well some people are very self absorbed and wouldn't care to notice that they hit an innocent animal. Kinda like something my sister would-"

Tori's mouth dropped open and she froze in place.

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><p><em>BAM!<em>

_ "What was that?" Tori inquired, as her older sister Trina pulled the car into a spot in the school parking lot. "Did you hit a pothole?"_

_ "In the parking lot? Come on little sister, even you're smarter than that." Trina unbuckled her seatbelt and got out of the car. "Make sure you lock your door –AAAHHHH!"_

_ "What?" Tori quickly undid her own seatbelt and jumped out of the car. _

_ "Nothing, nothing", Trina bounded towards her sister and pushed her backwards. "Come on, we're going to be late for class."_

_ "Trina, you're out of breath", Tori remarked. "And sweaty. And –STOP IT- I can't walk backwards!" _

_ "I'm fine. I just saw a bee, that's all", Trina stopped to inhale and exhale deeply. She ran her fingers through her hair, then lifted up her arms and ended in a pose with her arms out and a huge smile on her face. "How do I look?"_

_ "Out of breath and sweaty", Tori answered sarcastically. Trina hmphed at her and strode off to the front entrance of school. _

_ Tori shook her head and rolled her eyes at her sister, then followed her into school._

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><p>"Tori … my hand … you're squeezing it … too tight."<p> 


	2. The Three Musketeers

**Chapter Two**

**The Three Musketeers**

Tori listlessly opened her front door and took only one step inside before screaming and jumping at the sight of the monster seated on the couch. The monster jumped up and screamed also – in a high-pitched girly shriek. Tori squinted at the monster's face, which was completely covered in some light blue goop. A towel was wrapped around its head and it was wearing a pink fluffy bathrobe. Tori was sure that it was definitely her sister under there, somewhere, and sighed in relief.

"What the heck is that blue stuff?" she asked, motioning towards Trina's face.

"It's just some moisturizing cream that a girl gave me today in Makeup Design class! It opens up the pores." Trina sat back down on the couch, breathing heavily. "So where were you after school? I was waiting by the car."

"No you weren't! When I got there you had left already. I was only six minutes late."

"Right, so I gave you five minutes to get there. And after the way you almost gave me a heart attack just now, don't expect me to wait at all tomorrow."

"Oh, I'm sorry", Tori commented sarcastically. "That would have been awful of me to cause the heart attack of a MURDERER!"

"Huh?" Trina questioned. "Are you talking to me?" She pointed at her face, getting goop on her finger and tried to look behind herself. Shrugging, she licked the blue stuff off.

"Yes, I'm talking to you", Tori answered, grimacing. "Why didn't you tell me this morning that you hit something in the parking lot?"

"I-"

"And why didn't you tell me that what you hit was an innocent little cat?"

"That thing was a cat? Looked more like a rat to-"

"Why did you push me away, hm? Why didn't you want me to see what you did?"

Trina shook her head in disbelief, stood up, and used her fingers to hold Tori's mouth shut.

"I didn't want you to see it because it was disgusting. Did you really want to see the blood and guts of a squished dead cat?"

"Mmmph mmph mmphdoodle!"

Trina let go of Tori's mouth. Tori wiped her face in disgust with her sleeve, and then pointed accusingly at her older sister.

"You killed Mr. Snickerdoodle!"

Trina burst out laughing. She collapsed onto the couch, slapping the pillows, tears forming in her eyes. After almost a minute, she looked back at Tori who was standing there with her arms crossed, a totally serious look on her face. Trina snorted and resumed her hysterical fit. The blue goop on her face was getting all over the couch. Tori sighed exasperatedly and sat down on the other couch. Trina stopped her bouts of laughter every few seconds but each time she looked over at her sister, she started up again.

Tori shook her head, stood up and began to walk towards the stairs. Trina finally stopped laughing and grabbed her sister's arm. She pulled Tori back down next to her.

"Geez Tor, what's wrong with you? Ok, ok, I'm sorry I killed the cat. I swear it was an accident. I didn't realize you two were such good *snort* friends." Trina barely held back a laugh. "Though, how close could you have been if you only called him Mr. Snickerdoodle? That's pretty formal, isn't it? Did he call you Ms. Vega?" That did it. Trina cracked up again and nearly fell off of the couch. Her blue cream was now everywhere but on her face.

"I didn't come up with the name!" Tori protested angrily. "Cat did! She's the one who wanted to have the funeral, and she's the one who wanted to watch Mr. Snickerdoodle get buried! Know why I was late meeting you, Trina? I was busy hiding behind a bush watching Sikowitz trying to shove a box with a dead cat in it into the ground! It-just-wouldn't-go-in-the-ground!" Tori gritted her teeth. "And we sat there watching for almost an hour! An hour! I missed my last class! But Cat was really upset and I was just trying to comfort her and MEANWHILE my vehically challenged sister is the one who killed Mr. Snickerdoodle in the first place!"

"You sat there for an hour?" Trina asked incredulously. "You're out of your mind."

"I told you, it was Cat's idea!" Tori said.

"That girl is so weird", Trina mused. "I thought you usually don't have enough patience for her crazy ideas."

"I guess I'm just getting used to it." Tori turned so she could lie down.

"So how did you get home?"

"I took the bus, not like you care."

"Of course I care, I told you I was waiting."

"You barely waited!"

"Well you didn't expect me to just stand there by the car by myself looking like an idiot, did you?"

"It was only six minutes!"

"I gave you five. That's more than enough. If you wanted a ride home you should have been there on time. But I guess your little cat funeral with Cat was more important."

Tori fought the urge to strangle her sister as Trina got up from the couch and skipped over to the stairs, then laughed as she made her way up to her room. Tori crossed her arms and looked at the opposite couch. She groaned in disgust at all of the blue cream. Her eyes slowly began to close. The last thoughts in her head before she fell asleep were of a bunch of cats meowing, and of one small redheaded girl named Cat, smiling.

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><p>Beck chuckled as Jade nibbled at his lower lip. He wrapped his arms around her back, but she pulled them off and held them behind his head as they kissed on his couch.<p>

"I must say Jade, I really like when you take out all of your aggression this way." Beck removed his arms from Jade's grasp and cupped her face in his hands. He slowly pulled himself up to bring their lips together. She kissed back passionately, and then began slowly trailing down his neck.

"But you kinda lost it today", Beck said teasingly. "When you freaked out at that funeral."

Jade immediately stopped and sat up. She got off of Beck and scoffed in disgust.

"Never talk about a dead cat's funeral while I'm kissing you again."

"You mean you weren't having a good time? What about Mr. Snickerdoodle? Think about the cat, Jade."

"Ugh, you're disgusting. Get away from me."

Beck laughed as he pushed himself up into a sitting position and began to button his shirt.

"I take back what I said before. I don't like the aggression. All right, anyway, do you want me to read over that play script you wrote now?"

"Nah", said Jade, scooting closer to Beck and stopping him from completely closing his shirt. She nuzzled his nose with hers and kissed it. "It's not finished yet. I need some inspiration."

"How is making out with me going to help? Your play is about an unattractive girl with no friends who has to come to terms with the fact that she'll be forever alone."

"Yeah." Jade got a far away look in her eyes and smiled proudly. "I kind of like to think of it as Vega's autobiography."

Beck bowed his head in disbelief. Then he quickly stood up.

"That's right, Tori! I almost forgot."

Beck went over to the nearby table and grabbed his cell phone. He flipped it open, only to have it immediately snatched away by Jade.

"Excuse me Beck, what are you doing?"

"I was going to call Tori after school to tell her about the essay we have to do for science class next week."

"And why does Vega not know about this essay already?"

"She skipped class today, I don't know why."

"Well then, that's her problem, not yours."

"Give me my phone back."

"No."

Beck playfully poked Jade's stomach, and when she raised her hand to slap his finger away, he grabbed his phone from her other hand. He flipped it open once again and dialed Tori's number. Jade went to grab the phone once again, but Beck tickled her stomach, making her back up and fall onto the couch.

"I'm going to kill you", Jade threatened.

"I love you too, babe," Beck said. He held the phone up to his ear. It was still ringing.

"Hello?" came a very tired sounding voice from the other line.

"Hey sleepyhead", said Beck, sitting down next to Jade on the couch and putting his hand on her knee. She smacked it away and gave him a death glare. "Where were you today? Didn't feel like coming to science?"

"Who cares?" Jade asked, biting her nail.

"I … decided to cut class", Tori answered very carefully.

"I can't blame you. After that funeral, I'm sure no one wanted to go to class."

"Again with the funeral!" Jade threw her arms up in the air. Beck put his finger up to her lips to shush her. She bit his finger.

"Ouch! Anyway, Tori, we have to write a short essay for next week. I wrote down the outline so if you want we can meet up some time tomorrow and I'll explain it to you."

"Yeah, that would be great. Thanks, Beck."

"No problem – hey!"

Tori heard a bang, then some rustling and muffled arguing, and finally a loud beep.

"Hi Jade", Tori said loudly. "I know you put me on speakerphone."

"So you cut class, Vega? I didn't know you had it in you. Come to think of it, Cat wasn't in screenwriting class either. Where did you two go?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Cut the chiz, Vega. Where did you and Cat go?"

"Well … we just … went to go see Sikowitz bury the cat after the funeral", Tori admitted very quickly.

"Why?" Beck and Jade asked at the same time.

"It was Cat's idea!"

Beck and Jade looked at each other and shrugged.

"Well anyways, if you want we can meet tomorrow morning before Sikowitz's class", Beck said.

"Yeah, that's not going to happen", Jade stated. "Vega, get the work yourself – get off me, Beck!"

Beck grabbed his girlfriend and pulled her close to him. He laughed as he repeatedly rubbed his knuckle on her head. She tried to push him off, but he was too strong.

"I'm going to break up with you, I swear!"

"Yeah yeah, NOOGIES!"

"Beck, stop!"

"Don't resist it, Jade!"

Tori held the phone at a distance as the couple on the other end continued their little play fight. She heard Beck's cell phone fall onto the floor. Deciding to just speak to him later, Tori hung up.

"I hate you", Jade was out of breath as she sprawled out on the couch.

"I love you too, babe."

"Don't call me babe."

"I apologize, Miss West."

"Don't you mean the future Mrs. Oliver?"

"Hmm, I don't know about that. My future wife has to be nice to me. And my friends. Who are her friends also, come to think of it."

"Ew, Vega's not my friend."

Beck raised his eyebrow at Jade.

"Ok, fine. Maybe sometimes. But only when I'm in the mood. Which isn't very often."

"You know, there's really no reason for you to be so mean to her all of the time", Beck said.

"It's not my fault that she's so easy to make fun of!" protested Jade.

"Yeah well, try not to", Beck replied. "She's a nice person, you know that."

"So?"

"So be nice to her."

"Ugh."

"And Cat also. Now she's really your best friend."

"Yeah, that's not saying much."

"Still, you hardly ever see her outside of school anymore. Tori went with Cat to watch her dead cat get buried. Where were you when your best friend needed you?"

"In class where I belonged. And Vega's just weird. Who watches a cat get buried?"

"She was being a good friend to Cat. Tori's my friend also, you know."

"And that really disturbs me."

"Come on Jade, I'm being serious now", Beck put his arm around his girlfriend. He kissed her cheek. "I don't want you to lose your friends."

"Ugh, fine", Jade curled up against Beck.

"So you'll be nice to Cat and Tori and start spending more time with them?"

"Just call us the three musketeers", answered Jade, putting on a huge fake smile.

"Really?" Beck asked doubtfully.

"Oh yes, really."

"See, now that's more like what my future wife sounds like."

Beck moved closer to Jade and captured her lips with his. She ran her fingers through his hair as she sighed in content. The cell phone lay forgotten on the floor.

* * *

><p>"So, how was everyone's day?" David Vega addressed the question to the rest of his family, as they sat at the kitchen table.<p>

"Fine, dear," answered his wife Holly.

"Meh", replied Trina, shoving mashed potatoes into her mouth.

"Trina killed a cat", said Tori, very casually.

"What?" Mrs. Vega dropped her spoon onto the floor as Mr. Vega pushed his chair away from the table.

"Hey!" protested Trina, her mouth full. "Ok fine, you want to play that game? Mom, Dad, Tori cut class today."

"What?" exclaimed Mr. Vega, standing up.

"Hey!" Tori protested now, putting down her fork.

Trina stuck her tongue out at her sister. Tori did the same. Mr. Vega rubbed his forehead, while Mrs. Vega looked as if she wanted to faint.

"Let's start at the beginning here", Mr. Vega began, the veins in his forehead beginning to show. "Trina, you killed a cat? Please tell me this has nothing to do with the blue substance that's all over the very expensive couch in the living room."

"It was an accident, Dad, I swear", Trina replied. "And that blue stuff is cream."

"Cream?"

"It opens the pores."

"Pores? So why is it all over one of my couches? Never mind that, did you really kill a cat?"

"It was a total accident", Trina repeated. "I was pulling into a spot this morning in the school parking lot and I just kind of … hit it."

"You just kind of … hit it?"

"Yeah, really Dad, it's no big deal. I've hit tons of stuff before at school. Like last week I accidently drove into a tree. And there were a couple of birds that just came out of nowhere. Then there was that close call with the bunny rabbit-."

"That's enough", Mrs. Vega held her hand out to stop Trina. She turned to face her youngest daughter. "Tori, why did you cut class?"

"I didn't miss much, I swear", Tori began. "They let us out of class for the funeral anyway but Cat also wanted me to be with her at the burial."

Trina hid her face in her hands to hide a laugh. Mr. and Mrs. Vega looked completely dumbfounded.

"I thought the cat was dead", said Mr. Vega.

"No, not the cat. I was with Cat, my friend."

"That's that strange girl with the unnatural red hair", Mrs. Vega explained to her husband.

"Oh her", Mr. Vega nodded. He appeared to be a bit calmer, but it was short lived.

"Can someone please tell me why I'm paying all of this money to send you two to Hollywood Arts? When you're cutting class!" He looked at Tori. "And you're killing all of the wildlife!" He turned to Trina.

No one seemed to have an answer, so Mr. Vega angrily stomped out onto the patio. His wife followed, briefly glancing at her two daughters, a perplexed expression on her face. Trina paused for a second before digging right back into her dinner. Tori watched her in astonishment.

"Good job, sis, now we're both in trouble."

"You started it by opening your big mouth", answered Trina, food falling out as she spoke. She wiped her face with a napkin, then got up and walked into the living room. She looked at the dirty couch in disgust, and sat down on the other couch where there was no blue cream. She turned on the television. Tori remained at the kitchen table. A familiar ringing noise caught her attention.

"Is that my phone?" Tori asked, getting up.

"Yup", answered Trina, picking up the ringing device and looking at the screen.

"It must be Beck calling me back", said Tori, walking into the living room. "Hopefully Jade's left his place by now."

"Guess again", Trina kept her eyes focused on the television screen. She held the phone right up to her sister's face. Tori found herself in very close proximity to Cat Valentine. Or at least a picture of her holding an ice cream cone and giving a thumbs up. Tori took the phone out of Trina's hand and walked back into the kitchen before answering.

"Hello?"

"Hey Tori!"

Cat seemed to be back to her usual cheery self.

"What's up, Cat?"

"Nothing, I'm just soaking my hand in some ice", answered Cat nonchalantly.

"Oh." Tori bit her lip, feeling a sudden burst of guilt. "I'm really sorry about squeezing it too hard."

"That's ok. I'm starting to get the feeling back in my fingers now. My mom told me I should keep my hand in something cold, so I bought some ice cream. I had my hand in there for almost ten minutes, but then I got hungry so I ate the ice cream instead, and just used normal ice."

Tori laughed and smiled to herself. "Sounds like you're feeling much better."

"I am. That's why I called, I wanted to thank you for being so supportive today with Mr. Snickerdoodle and his-." Cat brought her voice down to a whisper. "Situation."

"It's no problem, Cat, I was glad to help."

"You're a good friend, Tori. Mr. Snickerdoodle would have liked you. It's too bad you never got to really spend time with him."

"Yeah, it's a real, uh, bummer", Tori fibbed.

"No one else would have come with me to see him getting buried."

_"Ain't that the truth", _thought Tori to herself. "I'm here for anything if you need me", she said out loud.

"Oh, I was hoping you'd say something like that!" Cat exclaimed gleefully.

"You … were?"

"I want to solve Mr. Snickerdoodle's murder mystery. Don't you think he deserves justice?"

Tori gulped. She quickly glanced over at Trina who looked like a zombie in front of the television.

"Um, Cat, I doubt you'll be able to figure out exactly what happened to him. I mean, there were a lot of cars in the parking lot."

"It'll take a while to figure everything out, I know. But if you help me, we can solve the case twice as fast. Two people means twice as fast right? I understand that kind of math."

"Well…"

"Please, Tori", Cat begged. Tori could tell even over the phone that Cat was putting her puppy dog eyes on. Most of the time she was able to resist the redhead's crazy requests but there was a tiny voice coming from deep somewhere, telling her to help.

"I don't know…"

There was silence coming from the other line until Cat whimpered.

"Please?" she said very quietly.

"Ok", Tori heard and felt words coming out of her mouth but couldn't believe she was saying them. "I'll help you."

"Yay, thank you so much Tori!" Cat was ecstatic. "We can start tomorrow morning!"

Tori didn't move. She kept the phone next to her ear, even after she heard Cat hang up. Out of nowhere, Trina booed at something on the television, and Tori snapped out of it. She looked at her cell phone, then over at her sister, then back at her cell phone.

"What did I just do?"


	3. Guilty Conscience

**Chapter Three**

**Guilty Conscience**

Trina yawned as she walked towards the front door. There was one knock, then two, then three. A whole symphony of knocking followed.

"Oh, hold your horses!" Trina shouted, undoing the lock and opening the door. Cat was standing there with an inattentive look on her face, her hand held up in a knocking position. Trina looked the girl up and down in uncertainty. She was wearing what looked like a black trench coat.

"Hello", said Trina awkwardly.

"Hi." Cat waved.

"What are you doing here?"

"My dad drove me over. I'm here to see Tori. Can I come in?"

"Uh, sure." Trina took a step back and Cat took one step forward over the threshold. "So, I um, heard about your cat. I'm sorry he … died."

"Oh, Mr. Snickerdoodle wasn't mine. He was a cat of the world." Cat giggled, then got serious. "I didn't see you at the funeral yesterday in Sikowitz's room."

"Yeah, I guess my class didn't get the memo", responded Trina. "But I heard you and my sister cut school and watched the burial together."

"Yeah, Tori's a good friend", said Cat, smiling. "Where is she?"

"Still upstairs getting ready for school. Don't you have to get ready for school also?" Trina motioned to Cat's outfit.

"I am ready", Cat answered, looking puzzled. "Tori and I are going in to school together."

"I see," said Trina slowly. "So your cat, Mr. Snickerdoodle. Was he by any chance kind of orange?"

"Yeah he was! Did you know him?"

"No, I was just guessing." Trina turned away from Cat, an uncomfortable look on her face.

"He was small and orange, with yellow stripes", said Cat.

Meanwhile, Tori heard voices coming from downstairs and left the bathroom to see what was going on. She had her toothbrush in one hand, and toothpaste in the other. As she made her way down the staircase she saw Cat and involuntarily smiled. The smile turned to a look of confusion as she wondered why the redheaded girl was at her house this early in the morning. She was nearly at the bottom of the stairs when she heard the last few words of a conversation.

"And he had the cutest whiskers!"

"I'm sure he did, Cat."

An alarm went off in Tori's head immediately. Trina and Cat. Talking about cats. Must. Stop. Now.

"Hey, Cat!" Tori ran over to her friend at what seemed like lightning speed. She dropped the toothbrush and toothpaste on the floor. "What are you doing here?"

"Tori!" Cat exclaimed happily. "Hey, what's that on your face?"

"What's what?"

Tori tried to shift her eyes downward but realized it was impossible to see one's own face without a mirror. Cat reached her finger out and touched a spot right underneath Tori's bottom lip. The youngest Vega girl felt a group of butterflies suddenly emerge in her stomach.

"Just toothpaste", Cat remarked, sniffing it. "I just wanted to make sure you didn't have rabies or something. My brother had rabies once."

"Your brother had rabies?" Trina repeated.

"Actually, no. It was just shaving cream. But it looked like he had rabies. My brother likes to shave."

Tori snapped out of her trance and realized she was still standing there with a bunch of toothpaste around her mouth. She ran to find something to rub her face on. The couch, which now had permanent blue cream stains on it, would have to do for now. Tori grabbed a pillow and wiped her mouth off.

"I wanted to get to school early", Cat explained. "So we can start solving our mystery."

"What mystery?" inquired Trina.

"It's nothing", Tori said, looking down at the floor.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Cat whined.

"I mean, it's nothing to sneeze at", Tori quickly corrected. "It's a – uh – pretty big mystery."

"We're going to find out who killed Mr. Snickerdoodle", Cat said proudly.

"Ohhhh." Trina clapped her hands together and turned to face her sister. Tori did not like the huge grin on Trina's face. "So you're going to solve the mystery of what happened to the cat, huh?"

"Yes," Tori answered, turning a bright shade of red.

Trina looked as if she was about to crack up.

"I'll put money on Tori finding the 'murderer' first", she said.

"Yeah, Tori's smart. I bet she'll find out what happened", Cat agreed.

"I'm going to put on deodorant and finish getting ready. You two should come up with a plan of action. Dad has a trench coat in the closet if you want to wear it, Tor." Trina held back her hysterical laughter as she left the living room, but let it out as soon she walked upstairs.

Suddenly Cat jumped up, squealing with glee. She nearly tackled Tori with a hug. Tori smiled bewilderedly as she hugged the redhead back.

"What's this for?"

"I'm so excited! Our first mystery together!"

"Yeah, why be a pop star when I can just be a detective?" Tori joked.

"Maybe we should leave now so we can get to school before everyone else", Cat suggested. "I brought a notepad so we can write down license plate numbers and match them to each person."

"Cat, we can't do that. A lot of people drive to school. It'll take forever if we write down every single license plate in the parking lot."

"Yeah, that's why we should leave now."

Just then a terrifying thought occurred to Tori.

"Cat, did you look at the car that was near Mr. Snickerdoodle when you found him yesterday?"

"No, I wasn't paying attention. I was too busy looking at Mr. Snickerdoodle's squished body. I don't remember what the car looked like!" Cat exclaimed. "I should have looked. Then we'd know who killed Mr. Snickerdoodle! I ruined everything!"

Tori sighed in relief as tears started falling down Cat's face. Tori looked at her friend in concern. Cat backed up towards the dirty stained couch.

"Wait, don't sit-." Cat sat down and covered her face with her hands. "…on there."

"The whole mystery is ruined and it's all my fault", wailed Cat.

Tori sat down next to the redhead on the couch, avoiding the blue stains. She went to put her arm around Cat, but hesitated. Before she could make up her mind whether to do it or not, Cat laid her head on Tori's shoulder, who awkwardly patted the top of it.

"It's not ruined. We can still take a look around the parking lot and maybe you'll remember something. Or maybe not." Tori spoke the last part under her breath.

"What did you say?" asked Cat.

"We better get to school." Tori quickly stood up, accidently knocking Cat off of her. "Come on, Trina will drive us."

"Aren't you forgetting something, little sister?" Trina suddenly reemerged in the living room. She was all dressed and ready for school. "I'm not allowed to drive for the next two weeks."

"Why not?" asked Cat innocently.

"Because I-", Trina began

"Because Trina got her nasty blue pore cream all over the couch", Tori interjected.

"Yeah, that was it", Trina replied, rolling her eyes.

"Oh." Cat looked down sadly.

Tori ran over to her sister.

"Come on Treen, Mom's out and Dad's at work and they won't be back until long after school ends. I won't tell if you drive us. It's better than taking the smelly old bus."

"Why are you doing all of this? The murder mystery and the lies? Just tell your weird little friend that I killed her cat by accident. I don't mind."

"She's not weird! I mean, yeah actually she kind of is, but… I don't want to hurt her feelings, ok? She has no idea that I know exactly what happened to the cat."

"This is a lot to go through just to save someone's feelings from being hurt."

"Listen, if Cat finds out that you killed Mr. Snickerdoodle she'll be really upset."

"You mean if she finds out that you knew that I killed Mr. Snickerdoodle."

"Oh, shut up!"

"You should be nice to me if you want me to drive you and Sherlock over there to school. Promise you won't tell Mom and Dad?"

"I promise. Promise you won't tell Cat?"

"Yeah, yeah."

"Trina!"

"I promise I won't tell Cat anything."

"Guys, look, I'm a detective!"

Tori and Trina turned around at the same time to look at Cat. She had placed a fake mustache under her nose, and had put on one of Mr. Vega's old police hats that was lying around. Tori and Trina stared in amusement as Cat began posing for them, holding the trench coat closed.

"She is so weird", muttered Trina under her breath.

"Trina, go get the car keys. Come on guys, it's time to get to school", Tori announced, walking up to Cat and taking the hat off of her head. Cat smiled and Tori had to laugh at how ridiculous the girl looked with her fake mustache.

"I thought Trina wasn't allowed to drive", said Cat, looking baffled.

"It's all right. I'm making an exception for the sake of this perplexing murder mystery", answered Trina, looking right at Tori and smirking.

"Yay!" cheered Cat. "Tori, your sister is almost as nice as you are!"

And with that Cat opened the front door and skipped outside.

"You're sure you really want to go through with this?" Trina asked her sister doubtfully.

"No", answered Tori. "Not at all."

* * *

><p>The streets were alive with the sound of honking car horns. And various obscenities. Tori lowered her head to hide as yet another car cut Trina off; the driver told them to 'shove a pole up where the sun doesn't shine' as he sped past. Trina ignored all of the loud noise and focused her attention on the road.<p>

"Treen, do you think maybe we could get to school before it's time for us to graduate?" Tori asked sarcastically.

The speedometer read about twenty miles per hour and in a few seconds it was down to only fifteen.

"This is as fast as I'm going to go", explained Trina, gritting her teeth. "I have to be very careful while driving. You wouldn't want me to cause an accident, would you?" Trina jerked her head towards the backseat.

Tori looked into the rearview mirror so she could see what Cat was doing. The redhead was bobbing her head back and forth and smiling. Suddenly the smile fell from her face as she spoke.

"Hey …wait a minute … this car is red, right?"

Tori's whole body froze up at once. Trina slightly opened her mouth in shock.

"Yeah it is", Trina answered as she pulled up to a stop sign.

Tori had her eyes glued to the rearview mirror, her heart pounding in her chest. Cat looked as if she was trying desperately to remember something. Tori couldn't breathe.

"_This is it. She remembers the car that killed Mr. Snickerdoodle and she knows what Trina did and she's going to put all of the pieces together and now she's going to hate me forever for not telling the truth when I had the chance."_

Cat opened her mouth to say something and Tori squeezed her eyes closed, praying for this all to be a dream.

"I love the color red", Cat said absentmindedly. The smile returned to her face and she resumed her head bobbing.

Tori slumped down in her seat as far as she could with her seatbelt on. Trina did not look over at her sister for the remainder of the slow drive to school. She was afraid that if she did, she would just burst into laughter.

* * *

><p>"Hey Jade, do you want to see my new laser?" Sinjin Van Cleef appeared in front of her locker as if from out of nowhere.<p>

"No", answered Jade, not even bothering to look at the boy. She scrolled through some old photos on her cell phone.

"It's green, and I can program it to play heavy metal music whenever you point it at something."

"I really don't care." Jade took a sip of her coffee.

"Maybe we could get together sometime and I'll show you my collection of teeth from relatives of past presidents."

"That is never going to happen", Jade asserted. "Now get lost before I make your teeth an addition to the collection."

Sinjin gasped and covered his mouth.

"Just call me if you ever want to see my laser", Sinjin said from behind his hand. He winked and skittered off.

Jade rolled her eyes, and slammed her locker shut. Beck, who had arrived minutes earlier and had watched the entire exchange with Sinjin, approached.

"Looks like you're in a good mood", he said, pecking Jade on the cheek.

"Actually I am", answered Jade. "I finished my play and I'm handing it in today."

"That's great, but I thought you wanted me to look at it first", Beck replied. He was going to say something else, but something over Jade's shoulder caught his eye.

"Hey look", said Beck, motioning his head towards the front door of school. "It's Tori and Cat."

Jade spun around to see where Beck was looking and sure enough there they were. Cat was walking up to people's open lockers and peeking inside while their owners stood, watching. Tori kept grabbing Cat and pulling her away from the people, apologizing for the redhead's actions.

"What are they doing?" Beck asked amusedly.

"What is she wearing?" Jade asked in repulsion, not being able to take her eyes off of Cat's trench coat.

Cat suddenly noticed Jade and happily walked over. Tori followed. Jade gave the redhead a half smile and ignored the other girl.

"Hey Jade, guess what Tori and I are doing?" Cat asked excitedly. Jade noticed that Tori was avoiding eye contact with her.

"Mmm, no thanks", Jade answered, taking another sip of coffee. Cat frowned and walked over with Tori to her locker. Jade turned around to walk in the opposite direction and bumped right into her boyfriend.

"That wasn't very nice", Beck sang. "Remember yesterday when you told me that you were going to be nice to Cat and Tori and spend more time with them?"

"Yeah, that's definitely what I said", Jade admitted. "But then I saw them and I changed my mind."

Beck sighed and put his hands on Jade's shoulders.

"Come on", he said exasperatedly and he slowly pushed her backwards.

"Hey, what are you doing? Stop that. Let go of me now. I will bite you." Jade almost tripped and spilled her coffee as Beck pushed her.

"You will thank me one day for this", Beck promised. He released Jade's shoulders as soon as she was right near Tori's locker and then went to go watch from across the hallway.

Jade mentally cursed her boyfriend as she stood in front of Cat, who was smiling as if it was the first time she had seen her, and Tori who was still avoiding eye contact.

"So what are you and Vega up to?" Jade asked, feigning interest. She looked over at Beck who gave her a thumbs up.

"We're solving a murder mystery", answered Cat. "I'm a detective." She opened her arms to allow Jade to look at her outfit.

"Oh that's … cool", stammered Jade. This being nice thing was hard. "Who died?" At least that was something she was truly curious about.

"Mr. Snickerdoodle, remember?" Cat pouted and looked a little hurt.

"The cat? You're trying to solve the mystery of who killed that cat?" Jade asked in disbelief.

"Yup", answered Cat proudly. "It was my idea. Tori and I are going to get Mr. Snickerdoodle some well deserved justice!"

"Is this true, Vega?" Jade asked. Tori quickly nodded. She did not even look up for a second.

"I knew you were out of your mind." Jade smirked. "You're actually going along with this? Vega, you're really something."

"Will you help us?" Cat asked. "If two people can work twice as fast then three people can work more than twice as fast. My brother once stole a box of knives from the store and he ran away twice as fast as he usually does. They caught him but maybe they wouldn't have if he ran more than twice as fast. My brother has a stealing problem. He got rabies once …" Cat trailed off, then remembered her original question. "So will you help us?"

"Yeah, I don't think so", Jade answered. She could have sworn she saw Tori sigh in relief. Out of the corner of her eye, Jade saw Beck hold up his hand and point to his ring finger, smiling. "Actually, you know what? If Vega's going along with this then I'm in. Hold on one second." Jade stomped over to her boyfriend. Cat jumped up and cheered.

"So did you guys make plans to hang out?" Beck asked, ignoring the rage on Jade's face.

"Cat is trying to find out who killed that cat from the funeral yesterday. And Vega is helping her. They claim to be 'solving a mystery'. These are the girls you want me to be friends with?"

"A mystery huh? That sounds like fun", replied Beck, taking his girlfriend's hand.

"Oh yes, all four of us are going to have a lot of fun."

"Four of us?" Beck let go of Jade's hand.

"That's right, boyfriend. I'm not helping if you don't help. And if you don't help, then we're through."

Beck thought about this for a second, and then took Jade's hand again and kissed it.

"Threaten all you want, I know you're just kidding. And all right. I'll help Tori and Cat. But only because they're my friends also."

"Well great, let's go tell them the good news then." Jade forcefully held onto Beck's hand and pulled him towards Tori and Cat.

"Looks like we're all on the case", said Jade. Cat clapped her hands happily and gave Beck a big hug.

"Now we're four people! We can work … more than as fast as three people!"

"That's right, Cat", Jade replied. "Why don't you ask Andre, Robbie and his puppet to help also? And while you're at it, ask Sikowitz too! And then maybe Sinjin van Dweeb! Don't forget that weirdo Festus! Just ask everyone in the whole school to help!" Jade was shouting now. She tossed her coffee into the air and stormed away. Beck had pretty quick reflexes and was able to catch the cup, but not before it spilled all over his head.

"Jade seems mad", Cat remarked, swinging her arms to the side.

"She's fine, don't worry. And we'll both be happy to help you with your mystery." Beck smiled at Cat. "Tori, are you all right?" He noticed that the girl looked as if she wanted to just melt onto the floor and disappear.

"I'm fine", Tori answered faintly. Beck looked at her in concern.

"I'm going to talk to Jade", he said, while running his fingers through his now wet hair. "Right after I get the coffee out of my hair. I'll see you two in class soon. Oh, and uh, cool trench coat."

Beck walked off. Cat grinned as she waved goodbye.

"He looks funny with wet hair", the redhead giggled. "Doesn't he? Tori?"

Tori was staring into space, her mind working in overdrive.

"The more people that help, the more likely we are to find out what really happened", Tori meant to keep the thought inside her head, but ended up verbalizing it.

"Yeah, isn't it great?" asked Cat. "Everyone wants to help Mr. Snickerdoodle." She took Tori's hand in her own and started to skip down the hallway. For a split second, Tori felt those strange stomach butterflies re-emerge but before she could question their cause they were quickly blown away by a gust of worry and guilt.


	4. Saved By The Beck

**Chapter Four**

**Saved By The Beck**

"Come on, son. You have to do it!"

"No father, I can't!"

The class stared, mesmerized at Andre and Robbie as they acted out a scene on the stage in Mr. Sikowitz's class. Tori was holding Rex on her lap, and Cat was sitting next to her, biting her nails in anticipation.

"Do it!" Robbie shouted.

"I can't!" Andre fell to his knees and started crying. "Once I burn those letters, Jessica will be gone from my life forever!"

"She is gone!" Robbie dropped down next to Andre and grabbed his shoulder. "She's dead! She's been dead for ten years!"

"No!" Andre cried.

"Take this." Robbie shoved a lighter into Andre's hand. "Burn those letters and end this now."

Andre held the lighter up in front of his face. He looked over at the pile of fake letters, and then back at the lighter. His thumb was just about to press down on it, when he suddenly paused and stood up.

"I'm sorry, but is this even legal, Sikowitz?"

The whole class groaned. Many of them stretched and flexed their necks, as they hadn't moved a muscle since the scene started.

"Andre, you are not supposed to break character in the middle of a big dramatic scene", Mr. Sikowitz said, rubbing his face in his hands.

"I'm sorry, but a brother needs to know these things", Andre protested.

"Good actors stay in character no matter what happens", Mr. Sikowitz explained, standing up and facing the class. "They do not question the legality of the situation. But since you asked, yes, I spoke to a lawyer last night."

"And what did the lawyer say?" Robbie asked.

"He said that there is no specific law preventing the act of setting a large amount of papers on fire in a classroom. Although he did advise against it. But this is serious business! So burn baby burn!" Mr. Sikowitz waved his hand towards the stage and sat back down. Robbie and Andre looked at each other uneasily.

"Psst, Tori", Cat whispered into the other girl's ear. Tori stiffened at the feeling of Cat's breath on her neck. "Where are Beck and Jade?"

Tori glanced around the room and saw that Beck and Jade were indeed not in class.

"I don't know", she whispered back. "I guess they had something else to do."

"Maybe they got started on solving our murder mystery!" Cat whispered happily.

"But Cat, we didn't tell them much of anything yet. They don't even know what they're looking for."

"Oh … phooey."

"How am I supposed to listen in on your conversation when you girls keep whispering?" Rex asked.

Tori and Cat looked down at the puppet sitting on Tori's lap. Then they looked at each other, completely freaked out. Robbie was still on the stage; he had just resumed the scene with Andre. Tori turned Rex around so that he wasn't facing her anymore. She shook her head in disbelief.

_"As if today wasn't crazy enough already. And the day just started!"_

* * *

><p>Beck opened the janitor's closet and grinned at what he saw. Jade was sitting on the floor, viciously cutting white paper into tiny pieces with her favorite pair of scissors. She didn't even seem to notice her boyfriend walk in, or if she did, she didn't acknowledge it.<p>

"Whatcha doing?" Beck asked teasingly.

Jade looked up and sneered.

"I'm making snow." She picked up a bunch of the small white papers and threw it at Beck.

"You know, you're not being very nice today." Beck sat down on the floor next to Jade. "First you were mean to Cat, then you threw your coffee in my hair, and now you're throwing fake snow at me."

"Get over it", Jade said bluntly.

"Come on, what's wrong?" Beck asked in concern, putting his hand on his girlfriend's knee. When she didn't respond, Beck took one of the ripped in half papers from Jade's hand and looked at it.

"Hey, isn't this your play?" he asked. "Why are you destroying it?"

"What do you care?" Jade snatched the paper back and crumbled it into a ball. "I wanted to tell you about it before, but you were too busy worrying about Vega and Cat."

"Is that why you're mad? I'm sorry", Beck said sincerely. "Don't rip up your play because I was being a jerk."

"I didn't", Jade answered. "This is just an old draft I wrote a few weeks ago." She grinned at the dumbfounded look on Beck's face.

Beck stood up and then reached down to help Jade.

"We should get to class", he said.

"Yeah, hold on. Before we see Vega and Cat, we need to set some things straight. If I have to go along with this ridiculous cat murder mystery thing, then so do you."

"I told you I was completely down for it."

"Yeah, why?" Jade asked.

"Because Cat and Tori are my friends. And they're yours also."

"Ugh, again with the friends?"

"Jade, you need friends."

"Are you saying I don't have any friends?" Jade waved the scissors dangerously in front of Beck's face. He gulped.

"Put the sharp scissors down. No, I'm not saying you don't have any friends. I'm saying that you won't have any friends if you ignore them and don't spend time with them. Cat and Tori are pretty much all you have."

"I don't need them. I only need you." Jade hugged Beck's arm and pouted.

"Everyone needs friends."

"I don't see you planning lunch dates and spa days with Andre and Robbie", Jade pointed out.

"For guys it's different. We can ignore each other for months and then talk like it's been no time at all. Girls are sensitive and stuff, they need to bond more often."

"Ok, that was super offensive."

Beck put his hand under Jade's chin and slowly kissed her on the lips.

"You still mad at me?" he asked.

"Mmm, nah. But do you honestly think that trying to find out who accidently killed a cat is normal?"

"I never said it was normal. I only said I would help. Maybe it's no big deal and Cat will forget about the whole thing. You know how she is."

"Yeah I do. And that's why I don't spend much time with her."

Beck wrapped his arms around Jade and she held on tightly, not wanting to let go. Beck kissed the top of her head.

"Come on. Let's get to class and you can tell me all about your play on the way."

* * *

><p>"Take this." Once again Robbie shoved the lighter into Andre's hand. "Burn those letters and end this now."<p>

Andre pressed down on the lighter and a small flame emerged. He walked over to where the pile of letters was and bent down. He moved the lighter closer and closer to the pile. The rest of the class could not peel their eyes away. The flame was a few inches away … then just a few centimeters.

"I'm sorry, I just can't do this", Andre said, throwing his hands up in the air. The class groaned again.

"All right Andre, sit down. Robbie, you stay on stage." Mr. Sikowitz clapped his hands to get everyone's attention. Andre took a seat in the back of the classroom.

"Tori!" Mr. Sikowitz shouted, making the girl jump up in fright. "Get up there with Robbie."

Tori stood up and put Rex down on her seat before joining Robbie on the stage. Cat looked over at the puppet and waved but there was no response. She poked Rex in the eye.

"Ow, girl! Back off!"

"Sorry!" Cat squealed.

"All right", Mr. Sikowitz addressed the class. "Let's do some more improvisation. I really don't think we do enough of that. We've got Tori and Robbie here. What is their relationship please?"

"Husband and wife", said the blonde boy sitting next to Andre.

"Husband and wife", repeated Mr. Sikowitz. "How original. And where are they?"

"At the mall", came another voice.

"And what are the happy couple doing at the mall?" Mr. Sikowitz asked.

"Hiding from the po-lice", Rex said.

"Thank you for the suggestion … puppet", said Mr. Sikowitz slowly. "Ok, you heard them. Tori and Robbie. You are a married couple at the mall hiding from the police. Go!"

"He's not a puppet!" Robbie moaned.

"Go!"

"Oh my gosh, honey!" Tori began. "I told you not to steal those platform shoes from the store! Now the police are after us!"

"I'm sorry but I need those shoes for our dancing lesson tonight!"

"We don't have dancing lessons!"

"Well I was going to surprise you with them for our anniversary! Uh oh, here come the police! Duck behind that sales counter!" Robbie grabbed Tori and pulled her down to her floor.

"Oww", complained Tori. "Honey, you bruised my kneecaps." She pretended to look over the nonexistent counter. "I think they're gone."

Robbie didn't answer, he was staring at Tori.

"Honey? Let's get out of here", Tori said uneasily.

"I love you." Robbie quickly spoke and smashed his lips into Tori's, kissing her. She tried to pull away, but he grabbed her arms. Growling, Tori bit his lip as hard as she could.

"Yow!" Robbie grabbed his lip. "Sweetie, you bit me!"

"This is not a time for kissing! The police are after us, don't you remember?"

"Right, the police."

"So come on, let's get out of here."

Robbie grabbed Tori's arms once again and pulled her into another rough kiss. This time she tried to fight back. While attempting to stand up, Tori tripped over Robbie's feet and the two of them fell over into an even more awkward position. Tori was laying on her back and Robbie was straddling her.

"Don't even think about it", Tori whispered through gritted teeth. But it was too late. Robbie's lips were about to say hello to hers again.

"Hey!" shouted Mr. Sikowitz. "Robbie, your desperation is showing!"

"Good one", said Rex loudly. Everyone stared at the puppet in bewilderment.

"I need some coconut milk", Mr. Sikowitz said, sighing. "Robbie, sit. Cat, take his place."

"Kay kay", answered Cat, standing and slipping off her trench coat. She picked up Rex and handed him to Robbie as he stepped off of the stage.

"He called you desperate", Rex said to Robbie.

"He didn't say I was desperate. He said I was acting desperate", Robbie responded sadly.

Tori did not move from her position on her back. She had not heard Mr. Sikowitz's instructions so she was a bit mystified when Cat took Robbie's place. His exact place, in fact. Cat positioned herself above Tori, and sat down, straddling her. A boy in the back of the classroom wolf whistled while others laughed.

A sudden tingling sensation occurred throughout Tori's body. It reminded her of the feeling she had when she would kiss her ex-boyfriend Danny, or even when she kissed Beck or that jerk Ryder Daniels. It was basically the way she felt anytime she kissed someone, but much stronger. Tori could not for the life of her understand why she was feeling that same sensation at this very moment. She tried to catch Cat's eye, to see if maybe the other girl was sensing something similar. The redhead was busy looking at Mr. Sikowitz, waiting for a cue to resume the scene, but he was busy searching through his bag.

"C-Cat?" Tori stammered. She was having trouble speaking for some reason.

Cat looked down at Tori and smiled. She didn't seem affected at all. Then all of the sudden her expression changed. It was one that Tori had never seen before. It was kind of a strange mix of confusion and pleasure. For a split second, Tori could have sworn that Cat's face was coming closer to hers. Tori's heart started beating twice as fast. Not knowing why, she closed her eyes.

"Hey, sorry we're late."

Tori and Cat stayed in their positions as they looked over towards the door at the same time. Beck and Jade were standing there, holding hands.

"I'm not really sorry", Jade said, with a smug look.

"That's all right. You're just in time for me to announce your next big assignment", Mr. Sikowitz said, holding a coconut. "Tori, Cat, you two can return to your seats for now."

Cat got off of Tori, and then held her hand out to help the other girl up. Tori didn't take it; she got up on her own. Too many thoughts and questions were flowing through her mind. Cat skipped off the stage and back to her seat. Tori slowly followed.

"Your assignment is to come up with a scene … and perform it", Mr. Sikowitz said. He shoved a straw into the coconut and took a sip.

"That's it?" Andre asked.

"Well if my students aren't going to be creative, then why should I?"

"Maybe you could set an example?" suggested Robbie. Rex nodded.

"All right then", began Mr. Sikowitz. "Your assignment is to come up with two scenes … and perform them both."

The entire class looked at their teacher vacantly.

"I'll separate you into pairs. Each pair will come up with a scene on their own, and then two pairs will combine their separate scenes together, and try to make them appear to be one scene. And there will be no breaking character to discuss legal issues." Mr. Sikowitz eyed Andre. "And no desperate make-out sessions." Mr. Sikowitz eyed Robbie who turned paler than usual.

"Yeah, Rob, you need to keep yourself together", Rex said.

"I know", Robbie whispered back fiercely.

"Now the partners! Beck and Jade, you two will do one scene; Tori and Cat will do another. The four of you will then combine your scenes. Do not discuss your scenes with the other pair in your group until they're finished and ready to be combined. All performances will be next week, so you better get started!" Mr. Sikowitz walked around the room pairing up the rest of the students.

"Yay, we're partners!" Cat cheered, grabbing onto Tori's arm. The other girl did not respond; her mind was still trying to process everything that had just happened.

"Looks like we're all working together", said Beck, walking up to them with a smile. Jade was still holding his hand.

"Sikowitz said not to discuss anything until we each finish our own parts", Jade stated. She went to walk away, but Beck didn't let her go.

"That doesn't mean we can't discuss something else", he said.

"Let's discuss Mr. Snickerdoodle", Cat replied. "And how we're going to solve the mystery of who killed him."

"Cat, do you really need to know who killed him?" asked Jade. "I know he was your friend and all, but come on."

"It's not going to be easy, but Tori's willing to help me", Cat explained, putting her hand on an unresponsive Tori's shoulder.

"Maybe you guys should focus on this assignment instead. It is due next week. That doesn't give much time", Beck acknowledged.

"But Beck, you were so willing to help them solve the cat mystery before!" Jade said enthusiastically. "Did you change your mind?"

"No", Beck answered immediately. "I just think we should focus on priorities."

"Mr. Snickerdoodle is a priority", Cat said, her face falling into a frown.

"I'm sure he's one of them, but doesn't schoolwork come first?"

"You're not being a very good friend here, Beck", Jade said sarcastically as she lightly pinched his forearm. "Cat, what can I do to help you?"

"Well, I wanted to look at all of the cars in the parking lot but a lot of them are dirty anyway so I can't tell if it's dirt on their bumpers or … Mr. Snickerdoodle." Cat looked upset.

"So how do you expect to find out who killed him?" Jade asked in confusion.

"I don't know", Cat admitted. "Maybe I'll see someone who looks guilty."

"Come on, let's go talk to Robbie and the puppet. They always look guilty of something." Jade grabbed Cat's arm and pulled her towards the other direction.

"Hey Tori, come back to Earth!" Beck waved his hand in front of the girl's face. She snapped out of her trance.

"I'm all for helping out a friend, but isn't this cat murder mystery a little bit of a wild goose chase if you know what I mean?" Beck asked softly.

"Cat wants to find out what happened", Tori explained. "It's really upsetting her. I can't let her do everything on her own."

"Well this is new", Beck said, smiling proudly. "You're never this enthusiastic about Cat and her … different … ideas. I mean, I know Jade is just trying to humor her, and me. But what about you? Where did all this newfound patience come from? You really want to solve this mystery?"

"No", Tori answered quickly. "I just … don't want Cat to be upset."

Beck cocked his head in confusion.

"She doesn't stay upset for very long, you know."

"I know Beck, I just … I don't know. Maybe we can find out what happened to Mr. Snickerdoodle quickly and this will all be over."

"You don't have to go through with all of this", Beck said. "I'll pretend that I found out what happened and tell Cat, she'll be upset for a few minutes, and then everything will be back to normal."

"I don't want - I mean, I don't want you to have to lie." Tori glanced over at Cat, who was talking to Robbie and Andre with Jade.

"Well then it looks like we've got some detective work to do. And schoolwork. Speaking of schoolwork, I never got to explain that science essay for you."

Tori's eyes widened.

"I completely forgot I have to do that essay also! Why does everything have to be due next week?"

"Because teachers are evil", Beck answered. "Don't worry, it'll all be done. The essay's not too bad. I'll explain it during lunch so you won't be confused."

Tori looked over at Cat again. The redhead was chatting animatedly with Jade. Tori still felt the remnants of that tingling sensation from when Cat was on top of her. It wasn't the first time she had had such feelings around Cat. Up until recently only boys had given her that feeling. Cat wasn't a boy, so she shouldn't have had that effect on Tori. And she knew that the redhead had felt something strange as well. Why else would she have had that odd expression on her face? And Tori was almost positive that Cat had been moving her face closer and closer. Why? What was going on?

"I'm already confused, Beck", Tori suddenly said, not referring to the science essay at all.


	5. Unfamiliar Territory

**Chapter Five**

**Unfamiliar Territory**

"Tori? Hello? You there?"

Andre waved his hand in front of Tori's face, making her once again snap out of the trance that she was in. She looked around. They were sitting outside, having lunch. Apparently a whole morning had gone by but Tori could barely remember what had happened in her other classes. All that she could think about was Cat straddling her on stage and those strange feelings it gave her. Tori looked down to see a half-eaten burrito on her tray. She could not remember even buying it, much less eating it.

"Wow", Tori said in a daze. "It's lunchtime."

"Yeah. You all right there?" Andre asked in concern.

"I'm fine", Tori answered, picking up her fork and poking the burrito with it. "I just have a lot on my mind."

"I bet I know what's on your mind. Sikowitz's class. That was pretty intense, huh?"

Tori's heart stopped for what seemed like the thousandth time that day.

"You saw it too?"

"Uh, everyone did", Andre answered. "I'm surprised you didn't smack Robbie upside the head."

"R-Robbie?" Tori stammered.

"Yeah." Andre felt Tori's forehead. "Are you getting sick or something? Don't tell me you forgot that Robbie mauled you with his mouth in front of the whole class."

"Oh, that." Tori sighed in relief.

"Yeah, that", Andre replied. "Anyways, I hope you didn't forget about tonight at least?"

"Of course I didn't forget about tonight", Tori said quickly. "What's going on tonight?"

Andre shoved Tori playfully.

"You're losing it, girl. Remember last week you promised me that we could re-record some tracks."

"Oh yeah", Tori answered, remembering. "Yeah, you know exactly where I live. Get your equipment and come on over after school. You wanted to redo the song you wrote about Jade, right?"

Andre shushed Tori and covered her mouth with his hand. He looked around at everyone who seemed to be minding their own business.

"Why don't you say it louder, huh? Let the whole world know! I told you, I'm over Jade. Totally and completely."

"Did you ever … touch Jade?" Tori suddenly asked.

"What?" Andre opened his eyes in shock.

"No, not like that", Tori corrected. "I mean did you ever literally touch her skin?"

"Yes …", Andre answered slowly. "She held my hand. I mean, kinda. She did this weird thing. It felt tingly."

"Tingly?" Tori asked with a mixture of both worry and excitement. "What did you-?"

Andre held up his hand to stop her and pointed towards the other direction. Robbie and Rex were approaching.

"Hide your lips", Andre said softly. Tori saw that Robbie looked incredibly nervous and uncomfortable as he stood in front of them.

"Um hello", he said, looking down at the ground. "Um, Tori, I just wanted to apologize for my behavior in class today. It was -".

"Incredibly desperate", Rex butted in.

"Yeah", Robbie agreed. "And it won't happen again. I promise."

"Speak for yourself", Rex said. "You can kiss me anytime baby."

"It's ok, Robbie", Tori said, ignoring Rex. "I forgive you. But if you ever do that again I will slap you. Hard."

"Understandable", Robbie replied quietly. "So can we join you?"

"Sure", answered Andre, making room. Robbie plopped himself down right between Andre and Tori and put Rex on the table.

"Face me in the other direction, Rob", said Rex. "There are a couple of blonde cuties over there checking me out."

Robbie turned Rex around so he was facing the other direction.

"So Andre, do you have any ideas of what you want to do our scene about for Sikowitz's class?"

"Oh, you two are working together?" Tori asked.

"Yeah, and I haven't even thought about it yet", Andre admitted. "Robbie and I have to work together with these two other kids. I don't think they've said a word in class all year."

"How about you and Cat?" Robbie asked Tori. She gulped at hearing the redhead's name. Once again the memories flooded back to her. Cat on top of her. Cat moving her face closer and closer.

"No, we haven't talked about it yet."

"Hey, where is Little Red anyway?" Andre asked, looking around.

"I don't know", Tori answered, looking around as well.

"She never misses lunch", Robbie acknowledged. Suddenly he jumped up. "Hey! Something just grabbed my foot!"

"You're crazy", Andre replied, shaking his head. "What was it? A foot monster? OH MY GOD SOMETHING GRABBED MY FOOT TOO!"

Andre and Robbie looked at each other in fright and both looked under the table. There was nothing under there. As they picked their heads up, Cat slowly emerged from under the table, giggling and waving.

"Hiiii", Cat said happily. She sat down next to Tori, who scooted over to give the girl room.

"Cat, what were you doing under the table?" Andre asked.

"Investigating", Cat answered innocently.

"Investigating what?" Robbie asked.

"I'm trying to find out who killed Mr. Snickerdoodle." Tori looked down at the table at the mention of the cat's name.

"Mr. Who? The cat?" Andre asked in confusion.

"What's that supposed to mean?" cried Cat.

"Someone killed it?" Robbie asked.

"Someone killed _him_", Cat corrected. "And I'm trying to figure out who did it. Tori's helping me."

Robbie and Andre both raised their eyebrows and looked at Tori, who gave a small smile and a shrug.

"Beck and Jade are helping too", Cat continued. "Maybe you guys can help also. The more people we have, the faster we can work."

"Oh, gosh Cat, that sounds like fun", Robbie said. "But Andre and I really need to work on our scene for Sikowitz's class."

"Uh, yeah. It's due next week you know", Andre added. "We need to get started. Come on."

Andre stood up and ran off. Robbie picked up Rex and waved goodbye to the girls before following.

"Aw, come on Rob! Blondie over there just winked at me!" Rex complained.

Cat looked down at the table sadly.

"How come everyone thinks that homework is more important than finding out what happened to Mr. Snickerdoodle?"

"I don't know, Cat" Tori answered. She was relieved that her heart seemed to be beating normally in the presence of the redhead. Maybe she had just imagined everything that happened in Sikowitz's class. No, it definitely happened. There's no way she could have made up intense feelings such as the ones she felt. Or maybe she did make them up. It was all way too confusing.

"So, have you gotten any leads?" Tori asked nervously.

"No." Cat frowned. "I asked a bunch of kids in my classes this morning. No one knew anything about Mr. Snickerdoodle. They all kept promising to give me candy if I stopped asking questions."

Cat reached down to the ground and pulled up a large plastic bag. She dropped it onto the table and it made a loud thud.

Tori put her hand on Cat's shoulder. "Hey, you love candy!"

"I also loved Mr. Snickerdoodle", Cat answered, crossing her arms.

Tori kept her hand on Cat's shoulder; she wanted to see for sure if the intense feelings were truly real or if she had just imagined them. She felt a slight tingling sensation and a couple of stomach butterflies from touching Cat's shoulder, but not much more than that. There was no legitimate way to get Cat to straddle her again here outside in front of half the school, so that idea was out of the question. Tori stared at the large bag of candy on the table and a light bulb lit up in her head.

"Ooh look at this one", Tori said happily, grabbing a chocolate and peeling off the wrapper. "It's got some pink cream inside."

"I like pink", Cat said quietly.

"Here, taste it." Tori held the chocolate right in front of Cat's face.

Cat opened her mouth and allowed Tori to put the chocolate in. As Cat closed her mouth to chew, her lips brushed Tori's fingertips, sending what felt like an electrical current through Tori's body. Yeah, those feelings were definitely real.

"Uh hey, am I interrupting something here?"

Tori and Cat looked up at the same time to see Beck, who was standing in front of them with a confused smile. A few seconds of awkward silence passed.

"Look, I have candy!" Cat said loudly and suddenly. She picked up the bag of candy and put it back down on the table.

"I see the candy", Beck replied, nodding his head. "That was an interesting way of eating it. Are you guys practicing for your scene or something?"

"Y-yeah", Tori lied. To her relief, Cat didn't object.

"Where's Jade?" the redhead asked as Beck took a seat at the table.

"Trying to cut Sinjin's teeth out of his mouth using scissors", Beck answered calmly. "She's been chasing him around the school since lunch started. I lost track of both of them. Actually, I think she might have really been serious. Maybe I should go find her." Beck turned to look behind himself.

"Yeah you should probably find her", Tori agreed. "Sinjin won't be able to defend himself."

"One time, my brother had to defend himself against a robber in the backyard", Cat said. "He kicked the robber in the stomach and sent him to the hospital. Only it wasn't a robber. It was our Uncle Jesse. He had to have surgery."

"Was your uncle all right?" Beck asked.

"No. He doesn't have his tonsils anymore. The doctor told him that no one really needs tonsils, but Uncle Jesse still felt like something was missing."

"Wait, your brother kicked your uncle in the stomach and he went to the hospital to get his tonsils removed?" Tori asked confusedly.

"No, he got his tonsils removed when he was seven", Cat explained.

"I'm going to go find Jade", Beck said uncertainly, standing up. "Oh, but I still need to tell you about that science essay. I'll drop by your house after school, if that's ok?"

"Yeah, it's ok with me", answered Tori. "Will it be ok with Jade?"

"Don't worry about Jade", Beck said assuringly. "It'll be just fine with her."

"When you find Jade, ask her if she found out anything about Mr. Snickerdoodle's killer", Cat said.

"Will do", Beck replied. "As soon as I get the scissors out of her hand and calm her down. I'll see you later, Tori." He walked off, but not before grabbing a few pieces of candy and chocolate from the bag.

"Do people really need tonsils? What do they do?" Cat asked aloud, staring up at the sky.

Tori side-eyed the redhead, wondering how this was the same girl that had just a few moments ago sent such an intense feeling through her body. Nothing was making any sense. It was just Cat. Crazy, unpredictable, Cat. It had been a while since Tori was in a serious relationship. Maybe she was just missing that, she thought. But why Cat? Maybe it wasn't just Cat. Tori probably would have gotten the same feelings from any other person who happened to get on top of her on stage in class.

But that's exactly what Robbie had done. And he kissed her. And it didn't give her a tingling sensation or butterflies in her stomach. Nor did it make her heart beat faster, and it certainly hadn't been on her mind all morning. But it was just Robbie. And Cat was just Cat. The only difference between the two of them was that Robbie was a boy and Cat was a girl. Tori never questioned it when she wasn't attracted to a boy. But she had never been attracted to a girl. And she wasn't attracted to Cat. Was she?

Tori looked at Cat who was staring off into space, giggling to herself every so often. She was pretty; beautiful even, but that was it. Cat was silly, sensitive and even kind of peculiar. But she had a big heart. Who else would have wanted to put together a whole funeral for a homeless cat? Any time that Tori needed Cat, the redhead was there to help. Cat was one of the best friends that Tori had ever had. Certainly no one at her old school would have traveled for four hours to Bakersfield and back with Trina to pick up a bottle of solvent. Sure she sometimes got sidetracked and distracted. But that was just part of what made Cat, well, Cat. If Tori had been at all attracted to the redhead, she would have realized it a long time ago. Those sorts of things aren't supposed to just pop up out of nowhere.

"Hey, that guy keeps talking to himself. Very suspicious. I bet he's the one who killed Mr. Snickerdoodle. Hey you! Murderer! Put your hands up where I can see them!" Cat ran over to a long-haired boy sitting a few tables away.

Tori was glad for the sudden distraction. Her thoughts were breaching into an unfamiliar and uncomfortable territory.

"Uh, Cat!" she called out. "I think that boy is just on the phone! He's wearing a headset!"

But it was too late. As soon as Cat approached the boy, she asked him to put his hands behind his back. He looked absolutely terrified as he complied. Tori couldn't help smiling, as Cat was able to coerce a boy twice her size into following her instructions.

"I didn't do it, I swear!" the boy cried.

"Likely story", Cat said, circling him like a hawk. She really did look like a detective in her trench coat. "What kind of car do you drive?"

"I don't drive! My … my mom takes me to school! I'm talking to her right now on the phone. Mom? You can ask her. Help!"

A few students laughed and others stopped what they were doing to watch the show.

"Boy, I sure feel sorry for whoever really killed that cat, don't you?" a voice said in Tori's ear. "Cat will probably try to have them arrested."

Tori turned and saw her sister standing next to her.

"That's not funny", she said. "And Cat's not going to find out. Not if I can help it."

"Yeah? What are you going to do to stop her?" Trina challenged. "She seems pretty determined to solve this 'mystery'."

"I don't know but as long as I keep myself involved I can make sure she doesn't find out."

"Tori, just give the girl something shiny and she'll be the happiest person in the world." Trina said. "We'll never hear about that cat again."

"People gave her candy." Tori pointed to the large bag on the table. "And it didn't make a difference. Cat's really upset and she's not going to stop until she finds out exactly what happened."

"Then let's tell her exactly what happened!" Trina exclaimed. "I'll tell her. It's really not a big deal. You can pretend to be surprised! You can pretend to not talk to me for a week because you're so disappointed in me! I don't care."

Tori paused. That idea was very tempting. But that tiny little voice inside her insisted that Cat should either hear the whole truth or nothing at all. And the whole truth included Tori knowing that Trina was the one who accidently killed Mr. Snickerdoodle. Which would make Cat upset with both of them. And that was the last thing that Tori wanted to happen. So Cat could not know anything at all.

"No, Treen. I'll handle this. Don't tell Cat anything, please. You promised."

"Did you ever think that maybe I feel guilty about the whole accidently killing a cat thing and that maybe I want to get it off my chest and tell the truth?"

"Is that what you want?" Tori asked unbelievingly.

"No, but maybe you should think about other people's feelings here", Trina stated. "How about your own feelings?"

Tori gulped. Her own feelings were the last thing she wanted to think about.

"Don't you feel guilty lying to your friend like this?" Trina asked. Tori was glad her sister said it that way. Her friend. Cat was just her friend. A good friend. A best friend, in fact. A best friend who gave her a tingly sensation and stomach butterflies whenever she touched her. Perfectly normal. It had to be.

* * *

><p>"…and if you have a problem with my driving, baby sister, then next time just walk!"<p>

"I bet even if we had walked, we would have gotten home long before you did!"

"I was NOT driving that slowly!"

"Trina, an old man on a scooter passed you on the sidewalk! He laughed at us!"

"Oh yeah? Well, he had no teeth!"

"Oh my god, you guys are so loud!" Cat whined and held her hands over her ears as she walked with the Vega sisters towards their front door. Trina put her key in the lock, but it wouldn't turn. She took hold of the knob and the door opened without her even having to twist it.

"Good going, Tori, you forgot to lock the door!" Trina said angrily as the girls all entered the house.

"Me? You were the last one to leave – what?" Tori stopped speaking as her sister shushed her. Trina pointed towards the couch with a look of alarm. There was a large man sitting there, eating what looked like a salami sandwich off one of Mrs. Vega's good china plates. Cat and Tori gasped and backed up.

"Stay here, I'll handle this", Trina whispered. She paused, and then ran towards the man screaming. He stood up, and put his hands in the air, still holding the sandwich. Trina shouted as she kicked her leg up high, almost making contact with the man's nose.

"Hey, hold on one second, let me explain", the man said, his mouth full. "Are you Ms. Vega?"

Trina curled her hands into tight fists and held them in front of her face.

"How do you know our name?" she said apprehensively.

"I'm not a robber, I swear", the man answered. "Your mother called this morning and asked someone to stop by. The door was open so I assumed someone was home."

"Who are you and why are you eating our meat products?" Tori asked, slowly approaching.

"Oh", the man pointed towards a nametag on his shirt. "I'm Fred. I'm from a couch cleaning company. We got a call this morning from your mother. She said someone would be home to let me in, but when I got here the door was already open. I didn't want to go upstairs so I just did my job. It took a while, and the hard work made me hungry so I made a sandwich."

Tori and Trina looked down at the couch, which no longer had the blue stains on it.

"You did a good job", Tori said approvingly.

"Are you sure you're not a burglar?" Trina asked nervously.

"I promise", Fred said sincerely. "I'm just the couch man."

All of a sudden Cat squealed and covered her mouth with her hands. She was looking at Fred as if he was some sort of celebrity.

"Couch Man?" she squeaked, slowly walking over to him. "You're one of my favorite superheroes! Right after Plunger Boy!"

Fred, Tori and Trina all looked at the redhead in disbelief.

"Can I have your autograph?" Cat asked shyly.

"Cat, there's no superhero named Couch Man", Trina explained irritatedly. Tori elbowed her.

"Sure you can have my autograph, kiddo." Fred sounded flattered. "Do you have paper?"

Quickly, Cat started digging through her bag. "I don't think I have any blank ones!"

"Trina, give her a piece of paper", Tori said. Trina looked at her sister as if she had suddenly sprouted three heads.

"Hello, there is NO superhero named Couch Man."

"I know that", Tori whispered.

"Then what the heck are you doing?"

"Just give Cat a piece of paper. It's all in fun."

"There is absolutely nothing fun about this. It's just weird. And so are you!" However, Trina reached into her bag and ripped out a sheet of paper. She reluctantly handed it to Cat, who gave it to Fred. He put his half-eaten sandwich down on the plate and wiped his face.

"Pen?" he asked. Trina had already taken one out and handed to him while rolling her eyes. Quickly, he scribbled his name and a short note before handing the pen back to Trina and the paper to Cat.

Cat looked at the paper and giggled.

"If you ever need your couch cleaned, you know who to call", she read aloud. "Hey who's Fred?"

Trina sighed exasperatedly and strode off to the kitchen.

"Fred is the name I use when I'm not being a superhero", Fred explained. "No one else can know my true identity, all right?"

"I won't tell anyone", Cat promised, pretending to zip her lips shut. Fred winked at her.

"Well, I'm finished with everything here", he said. "My company will mail the bill to you in a couple of days. What was on the couch anyway? It was some blue stuff."

"Pore cream", Trina answered loudly from the kitchen table.

"Hm, how was it? Did it work?" Fred asked.

"Take a look", Trina stood up and walked over. She posed with a big smile and her hands held up to her face. Fred nodded in approval.

"I gotta get me some of that cream. All right, I'm out of here. Nice meeting you ladies."

"Bye Couch Man!" Cat said, waving and giggling.

"See ya Fred", Tori said flatly.

Fred started walking towards the door.

"Uh, Fred?" Tori called.

"Yeah?" Fred stopped.

"You forgot your sandwich."

Fred walked over to the table and picked up the plate with his salami sandwich.

"Leave the plate", Tori said.

Fred left the plate where it was and took one bite of the sandwich before once again heading towards the front door. He waved and left, closing the door shut behind him.

"I can't believe I got Couch Man's autograph", Cat giggled to herself. "I mean, Fred's", she said seriously.

"I'm going upstairs", Trina said, shaking her head at Cat. "If you need me, don't holler. Oh, and Tori? You're giving me a back massage later."

"Yeah sure", Tori replied, not at all listening to her sister. Trina, who had not been expecting that answer, nodded approvingly before running up the stairs to her room. Cat took her trench coat off and laid it over the nearby chair. Then she took a seat on the couch, still chuckling as she kept reading what Fred wrote over and over again. Tori looked at the redhead and smiled at how happy and innocent she looked. However this only reminded Tori of how intense and passionate Cat looked when she had been sitting on top of her. Shaking her head to try to and get those thoughts out, Tori sat down next to Cat on the couch. Something she had done countless times, but now being in such close proximity to the redhead was making Tori nervous and question everything.

_"Is this too close?"_ she thought. _"Maybe I'm too far away and Cat's offended. If I move any closer, is that still just 'best friend' territory? Or will that mean 'Yes, I'm attracted to you'? I'm not attracted to her! I'm really not attracted to her! At least, I never was before. Am I now? Why do I seem to be the only one going through a crisis right now? What is Cat thinking? What's going through her mind?"_

"I bet if Couch Man and Plunger Boy got into a fight, Couch Man would win because couches are really big compared to plungers." Cat laughed to herself and slapped her knee.

_"I guess that answers my question …"_


	6. Free Hugs

**Chapter Six**

**Free Hugs**

Tori quickly glanced down at her cell phone. Ten minutes of complete silence had gone by. Cat was sitting on the edge of one couch, still reading Fred's note over and over again. Tori was sitting on the edge of the other couch, watching the other girl's face closely. Waiting for any signs of an internal conflict. Anything at all. The only expression on Cat's face was her usual inattentive smile.

_"She's my friend",_ Tori thought to herself harshly. _"Just like Andre, Beck, Robbie and even Jade. Physical contact with friends is expected. Of course it feels good, otherwise no one would ever do it. Maybe I just really enjoy physical contact and never noticed it until now. Cat and I were in a pretty … risqué position on stage. I just got caught up in the moment, that's all, and enjoyed it too much. The same thing would have happened if it were with any of my other friends. Except Robbie apparently."_

Cat giggled as she finally put the note into her bag.

"I can't believe Couch Man's real name is Fred."

Tori smiled at the other girl's naïveté.

"Remember, you're not supposed to tell anyone that."

"Never", Cat said, crossing her heart.

"So what do you say we get to work now?" Tori suggested. "There's a lot to do."

"Kay kay", answered Cat. She reached into her bag and after searching for a few seconds, pulled out a small notepad. "Here's what I have so far." She handed it to Tori.

Tori looked at the first page of the notepad and frowned.

"This is a picture of a cat", Tori said.

"It's Mr. Snickerdoodle", Cat explained. "I drew it today. I'm using that notepad to write down all the evidence and stuff that we find out. Let's go over it."

"By work I meant our scene for Sikowitz's class. It's due next week." Tori looked more closely at the drawing. "This is really good, Cat."

"Really?" Cat asked shyly.

"Yeah the detail is amazing", Tori nodded in approval. "The color, and the shading. It really looks like a cat. You're a really talented artist."

"Thanks", Cat said timidly. "Read the rest of the notepad now. I wrote down suspects and clues."

Tori flipped to the next page. It was another picture of a cat, in black and white and with much less detail. The next page had one word on it: "meow" in bubble letters. The page after that had what looked like the sketch of a unicorn surrounded by rainbows.

"Cat, these are all pictures."

"Keep going."

Tori flipped ahead a few pages until she finally came to one that said "suspects" on it.

"Mama's boy?" Tori read slowly. "You mean the guy with long hair that you scarred for life at lunch today while he was on the phone with his mom?"

"Yup", Cat answered seriously. "Very suspicious boy. He and his mother are definitely hiding something."

Tori was unsure how to respond to that. She was relieved that the boy was the only person on the suspect list. And he'd have to stay there for as long as possible. Anything to keep Cat's mind from wandering to another suspect, namely Trina.

"I guess we'll have to keep an eye on this kid then", Tori finally replied. "Do you have any other information?" She flipped further through the notepad. It was full of more random drawings. Bunnies and trees and hearts. Tori was just about to turn to the last page when all of the sudden Cat squeaked and snatched the notepad back.

"What? What's wrong?" Tori asked anxiously.

Cat hugged the notepad close to her chest and shook her head. Tori was shocked to see that the other girl's face was turning a shade of red bright enough to rival her hair.

"Let's work on our scene. It's due next week." Cat was trying to seem calm, but she clearly wasn't.

"Oh, ok", Tori replied, confused. "Do you have any ideas?"

"Do you have anything to eat?" Cat asked. Her face was beginning to return to its regular color.

"Yeah, I'll go see what's in the fridge." Tori stood up and slowly walked to the kitchen. She quickly glanced back at Cat, frowning in confusion at what had just happened.

Cat waited until Tori was out of sight, then hastily put her notepad down on the couch. Trying not to look suspicious, she took her bag and placed it on top of the notepad, hiding it from view. Tori returned from the kitchen holding a large tray of cut fruit. She placed it on the table and sat back down.

"Ooh, strawberries!" Cat said excitedly. "One time my brother and I went strawberry picking, but he kept trying to take the whole bushes so the owners kicked us out and got a restraining order."

Tori chuckled at the story, glad that Cat seemed to be acting normally again. "So do you have any ideas for our scene?"

"Yup", Cat nodded and got up. She sat down right next to Tori, whose heart started fluttering.

_"Uh oh, here we go again", _she thought.

Tori felt her palms start sweating. Cat's bare legs were touching her own jean covered ones. Her legs were very warm. She could smell Cat's fruity perfume. And she could hear Cat breathing in and out. In and out.

_"She's just a friend. Just a friend. This is normal. I'd feel this way with any friend. I just happen to be noticing it now", _Tori kept chanting to herself in her head.

Cat's shoulder brushed hers and Tori shuddered. She squeezed her eyes shut, not wanting to know anymore what the other girl's idea for their scene was. She wanted things to go back to the way they used to be. When Cat could touch her and she wouldn't freak out like this.

Something cold and wet suddenly touched Tori's lips. Her insides exploded. About a hundred butterflies emerged in her stomach. Her whole body felt hot. Tori's eyes flew open. She found herself face to face with … a piece of watermelon?

"You don't look so good, Tori. Do you not like watermelon? Should I have taken the grape instead?" Cat sounded worried.

"I'm fine", Tori choked out. "What are you doing?"

"I thought this was what we were doing for our scene", Cat explained simply. "That's what you told Beck."

"Y-Yeah", Tori answered, wiping her forehead. She hated always sweating so easily.

"Are you ok? You look sick." Cat touched Tori's cheek with the back of her hand. Once again Tori's body went crazy. She started trembling as the familiar tingling returned. Rapidly, she stood up and starting pacing the living room. Cat watched her friend in concern. There was a knock on the door. Tori thanked heaven for the distraction. She walked over to the door and opened it. Andre stood there with a big grin.

"Hey what are you doing here?" Tori asked in confusion.

Andre's grin turned into a glare.

"Are you serious?" he asked.

"Oh the song!" Tori smacked her forehead. "I forgot you were coming over after school!"

"I know", Andre gritted his teeth. "You forgot twice. But I'm a good friend so I'll forgive you this time."

_"That's right! He is my friend!"_

Without warning, Tori wrapped her arms around Andre to hug him. He opened his mouth in complete bewilderment. Tori tightened her grip and waited for something … anything. There were no butterflies, not even one. No tingling, no heart malfunctions, no internal explosions. Fear struck Tori. What did this mean? So far only Cat was giving her those feelings.

"Tori, I said I forgive you", Andre repeated. "Now can you let me go please? My hands are kind of full here."

Tori gasped and released Andre. She saw that he was holding his laptop, a plastic bag and a small keyboard, which he used to record his music.

"Thanks", Andre said, pulling at his collar. "So can I come in?"

"Yeah, come on in", Tori answered speedily. She closed the door as Andre entered.

"Oh hey Little Red," Andre said to Cat. "What are you doing here?"

"Sitting on the couch", Cat answered happily. Then she laughed. "I met Couch Man today and got his autograph."

"That's … great, Cat", Andre replied uncertainly. He looked at Tori and raised his eyebrow doubtfully. She nodded in response.

"All right well, do you want to start now?" Andre asked. "Or if you two were busy, I'll hang around for a bit."

"We were working on our scene for Sikowitz's class", Cat answered.

"That's cool. I'll set up while you two finish." Andre sat down on the couch, put his keyboard on the table and opened his laptop.

Tori mentally commanded herself to act normal while Andre was there. She sat down on the couch next to Cat, leaving a significant amount of space between them.

"So, the scene", Tori said, trying to sound casual.

Cat took a grape from the fruit tray and went to feed it to Tori once again. Without thinking, the brunette grabbed the nearest pillow and shoved it against Cat's hand, knocking the grape to the floor. This also threw Tori off balance, and she crashed onto the floor as well, landing on her back. Hard. Andre heard the loud thump and looked up from his laptop down at Tori on the floor, completely astonished.

"Maybe we should do something else for our scene", Cat suggested, looking anxious.

"I-I think that would be best", Tori responded. She groaned as she sat up and rubbed her back. "Let's come up with something completely different. No fruit. No candy. No … eating at all."

"Kay kay", Cat said, offering Tori a hand up. Mentally bracing herself for the feelings that would result, Tori took it and let the redhead pull her to her feet. She sat back down on the couch.

"I know!" Cat exclaimed happily. "Let's do our scene about a giraffe who learns to love!"

Andre snickered at the suggestion, which both he and Tori had heard before.

"Ok, let's do it", Tori replied without thinking.

"Really?" Cat asked giddily.

"Really?" Andre repeated, stunned.

"Yeah", Tori answered. "_Wait a minute", _she suddenly thought. _"A giraffe who learns to love. Love? That would most likely require lots of touching and physical contact stuff. Ok yeah, scratch the love."_

"Hey actually, how about this instead", Tori said out loud. "A giraffe who learns to love … trees."

Cat and Andre both looked at her as if she was out of her mind.

"Trees?" Cat asked.

"Yeah, because maybe this giraffe is embarrassed by his long neck so he doesn't like to eat from the trees. But then he comes to love trees because he needs them to survive." Tori could not believe the words coming out of her mouth.

"She's lost her mind", Andre muttered under his breath. "Those two are spending way too much time together."

"That's kind of easy, isn't it?" Cat asked sincerely.

"Well, we can add to it and make it better", Tori replied. "Come on, it'll be fun. Huh? Huh?" She paused before poking Cat's arm playfully. "What do you say, Cat? I bet no one else in class will have a scene like ours."

"Yeah, 'cause it's weird", Andre said, shaking his head.

"This is really what you want to do?" Cat asked Tori.

_"No." _"Yes."

"Then a giraffe who learns to love trees it is!" Cat said happily. She giggled. "That's so silly. I really like it!"

Tori smiled at the redhead.

"It'll be great. It's simple and it's fun. _And it involves no physical contact."_

"I hope Beck and Jade's scene will be easy to combine with ours", Cat said. "Jade will probably come up with something disturbing."

"Don't worry about it", Tori answered. "We'll make our giraffe scene work."

"Ok", Andre said loudly. "I'm all ready to go. Tori, if you're done talking about your, uh, giraffe love?"

"Uh, yeah, let's do it", Tori answered, blushing.

Cat looked over Andre's shoulder at his laptop screen.

"What are you guys recording?" she asked curiously.

"We're going to rerecord 365 Days", Andre answered. "I added a few new verses. Oh, and I got some cool new software which can add special effects like beats and stuff."

"That's so cool", Cat said in awe. "Hey, maybe after you do that song we could rerecord Best Friend's Brother also!"

Andre nodded appreciatively.

"I'm down for that. We can do that first if you want. Tori?"

"Yeah, let's totally do it", Tori answered.

"Yay!" Cat cheered happily.

"All right then." Andre clicked a few times on his laptop. "I've got the music track here without words." He reached into his plastic bag and pulled out three pairs of large headphones. He put one on himself and gave the others to the girls. Andre took his keyboard off of the table, put it on his lap and turned it on.

"You ready?" he asked. Cat and Tori both gave him a thumbs up.

"Clicking on music to start in 5 … 4 … 3 … 2 …1 …"

* * *

><p><em>If asked what she loved more than anything else in the world, Tori would answer 'singing' with no hesitation. There was no feeling quite like the one she got when she was singing. She felt free; she felt like she could fly. When she sang, Tori felt as if hers was the only voice in the world, and that everyone else was listening to only her.<em>

_ That's why Tori wasn't really a fan of duets. She preferred hearing her voice on it's own. Singing with Andre was different though. They would usually sing in front of a crowd and it was all about the performance aspect. It was all about the fun. Hers and Andre's voices meshed well together. _

_ But singing with Cat was something else completely. Cat's voice was amazing. Tori really noticed it when they sang Best Friend's Brother on the roof at prome. It was like no other. And the way their voices sounded together? Absolute magic. Cat's voice was entrancing. She definitely had talent; there was no doubting that, no matter how strange she acted sometimes. It wasn't that Tori thought Cat's voice was superior to her own. It was just that when she heard the redhead sing, she couldn't help stopping whatever she was doing and listening. _

_When they sang together on the roof at prome, they were having a blast and pumped with adrenaline. Singing together in Tori's living room was a whole different ball game. There was no audience. Tori would find herself trailing off in the middle of the song just to hear Cat's voice on it's own. Combined with the fact that Tori couldn't touch Cat without having an anxiety attack, it was a wonder that they even got through the song once. By about the fifteenth time they restarted, Tori had a feeling that Andre was getting fed up._

"_What are you doing over there?" Andre had shouted at her after abruptly stopping the music._

"_What's wrong?" Tori shouted back from her position in the kitchen._

_ "You're kind of far away!" Cat said. _

_ "I'm not picking up your voice on my computer", Andre said loudly. "Come back over here!"_

_ Tori slowly walked back into the living room. Best Friend's Brother was an upbeat song. It was pretty impossible to sing an upbeat song with someone without being near them. And Cat would keep dancing around, getting closer and closer to Tori. Not wanting to have a freak out in front of everyone, Tori went into the kitchen. But it wasn't the stealthiest move. Cat and Andre noticed Tori moving further and further away. Cat had stopped singing to sniff her underarms, wondering if that was what had made Tori back off. _

_ "We're going to do this one more time", Andre stated firmly when Tori returned back to the living room. "And then we have to do 365 Days. That's why I came here in the first place! Can you please stay in one spot?"_

_ Tori nodded and looked at Cat who gave her a supportive smile. Tori smiled back, momentarily forgetting her troubles. She forced herself to close her eyes and sing the song through just once completely._

* * *

><p>That was over an hour ago. Andre sat on the couch, making some finishing touches to both songs on his laptop. Cat was sitting on the stairs, amusing herself with Andre's keyboard. She had set it to sound like a tuba. Each time she pressed a key, a low noise would come out and Cat giggled. Tori was lying down on the other couch, feeling kind of tired. She would start closing her eyes but then Cat would hit a key and Tori would open them right up again.<p>

"And I am done", Andre said, finishing up his typing. "I saved the songs and emailed them to both of you."

"Thanks", Tori replied. Cat was still busy playing with the keyboard and didn't respond.

"Hey, check this out. You've got a whole bunch of requests here on The Slap." Andre motioned for Tori to come over. She got up and sat down next to him.

"Wow, that is a lot", Tori commented as Andre scrolled down the page. "Stop, let me read some of them. 'Hey Tori, I request that you take off your clothes and-' whoa, I'll stop there. Freak. 'Here's a request, Vega. Get a life'. Hey! Oh, it's just from Jade. Next. 'Hi, my request is for you to be my girlfriend'."

"Who's that one from?" came a shy, yet interested voice next to Tori's ear. Tori froze in place. When did Cat get up to sit next to her and why wasn't she warned beforehand?

"It kind of looks like … Sinjin", Andre said, squinting to see the tiny icon on the screen.

"Yeah see, this is why I don't do many request videos", Tori replied. "Because I get requests like that."

"There has to be at least one good one", said Cat, putting her arm and head on Tori's shoulder to see the laptop screen. The shaking started in Tori's feet, but quickly moved up her body. Then her heart started palpitating. Being in close contact with Cat was clearly not good for Tori's health.

Suddenly the doorbell rang, and once again Tori thanked the heavens. She practically leaped over Andre and almost tripped on her way to the door. She quickly opened it.

"Beck!"

"That's my name. Looks like you're having a little party in here. What's up guys?"

"Hey Beck", said Andre. Cat waved merrily.

"What are you doing here?" Tori asked.

"I asked if I could come over after school, remember? To tell you about that science essay."

"Oh yeah, right you did", Tori answered. Then a light bulb went off in her head once again. She threw her arms around Beck and waited. He smelled nice. But there were no tingly feelings. No shaking or trembling. Tori got even more fearful. Why wasn't anyone else giving her those feelings?

"Uh", Beck said awkwardly. "Tori?"

"Hey, does Jade know you're here?" Tori asked, still hugging him. Maybe if she held on just a little bit longer …

"Oh she knows", came the voice of the devil herself. "And she's going to stomp on your face if you don't get off of her boyfriend."

Beck threw his hands up in the air and Tori let go of him. Jade had her arms crossed, but there was a slight smile on her face. Knowing she was risking her life, Tori hugged Jade, who looked completely thrown off. Maybe this was something she only felt with girls, Tori thought. Although that wouldn't really make things any better. But again she felt nothing from Jade. Not even a slight electric current. Only a strong scent of unpleasantness.

"Do you have a death wish today or something, Vega?" Jade asked in a monotone. "Because I'm willing to fulfill it. Get off." She gritted her teeth. Tori stopped hugging Jade and slinked away.

"I thought you were waiting in the car", Beck said to his girlfriend. "I'm not going to be long."

"I decided to follow you in, and it's good thing too. Look, all of our friends are here." Jade replied sarcastically. She took Beck's hand and kissed it.

"If you're staying then you need to park the car", Beck told her.

"Oh, that's ok. I pulled into someone's driveway", Jade answered.

"You can't just pull into someone's driveway. That's illegal", Andre responded.

Jade glared at him and Andre shuddered.

"Though I'm sure the owners will understand", he added delicately.

"I'm sure the police won't", Beck said. "Come on Jade, you don't want to pay a fifty dollar ticket do you?"

"Are you offering to pay it instead?" Jade asked her boyfriend. He crossed his arms and frowned at her.

"I'll be back", Jade said in defeat, turning around to leave. "Vega, keep your hands to yourself." She was out of sight in a few seconds.

"So, you ready to hear about that science essay now?" Beck asked Tori.

"No, but it has to be done so let's do it." Tori closed the front door slightly.

"I have the paper here somewhere", Beck said, turning his backpack upside down and dropping all of its contents onto the couch. "I marked it with a blue sharpie so I wouldn't forget. Oh, there it is!"

Beck moved Cat's bag aside to grab a piece of paper that was lying near it. He handed it to Tori proudly.

"Design your own experiment using the scientific method. Make sure to include all steps", Tori read. "That's it?"

"Uhhh, yeah", Beck replied guiltily. "I kind of made it out to seem more complicated, didn't I?"

"Ya think?" Tori said.

"Sorry about that", Beck answered. "Here, let me clean this mess up that I made." He grabbed everything that was on the couch and shoved it back into his book bag. Then he placed his bag next to Cat's. "Well since we're all here, how about we just hang out and have a little party?"

Everyone murmured in agreement. Andre stood up.

"I'll go pick us up a pizza. I need to stretch my legs. You wanna come Little Red?"

Cat didn't respond. She was back to playing with the keyboard. Now she had made it sound like a ukulele when you pressed the keys. She played a little tune and laughed.

"I'll be back", Andre said defeatedly.

"Here, take money." Beck reached for his wallet in his back pocket and pulled out a few crumpled bills.

"Yeah, me too", Tori added. She went into the kitchen where there was some spare money in a jar and took enough to cover for both herself and Cat. She handed the money to Andre who counted it all, gave a thumbs up and left.

"Hey, so how's the murder mystery going?" Beck directed his question towards Cat, who looked up from the keyboard. "Jade and I asked a couple of people today about it, but no one knew what we were talking about. They thought Mr. Snickerdoodle was a new teacher at school."

"We have our suspect", Cat answered happily. "He's about seventy inches tall with long hair and a mother who drives him to school."

"He – what?" Beck asked, clearly confused. "Why do you think he did it?"

"Because he and his mother were acting very suspicious", Cat replied seriously.

"What did they do that was so suspicious?"

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It – it means, why do you think this guy did it and not someone else?" Beck cautiously sat down.

"Because he did it", Cat said determinedly.

Beck looked over at Tori for some confirmation. She shrugged and looked down at the floor.

"Do you know his name?" Beck asked.

"Nope," Cat replied pleasantly. "Hey, maybe Jade could get him to admit what he did. She's very persuasive."

"Uh, sure", Beck answered hesitantly. "Just show us this guy and we'll figure everything out."

"Yay!" Cat cheered. "Justice for Mr. Snickerdoodle!" She threw her arms up in the air and laughed. Beck and Tori watched her, both with similar uncertain expressions, but each for completely different reasons.

* * *

><p>"Hey, I thought you were finding a parking spot."<p>

"I thought you knew better than to question me."

Jade laughed as Andre backed up from the car window.

"Hey relax, I don't bite. You're kinda weird, dude," she said.

"You're kinda intimidating, girl", he replied.

Jade nodded in response and opened the passenger door so Andre could come in.

"Why are you still in this person's driveway?" he asked, sliding the seat back so he could stretch his legs out.

"I tried finding a spot, but it's late so everyone's already home and parked on this block", Jade explained.

"Well, I'm headed over to the pizza place. There are usually plenty of spots so you can park there and we'll walk back. It's not too far."

"Sure", Jade replied, buckling her seatbelt and turning the car on. "Hey, so was Vega keeping her dirty paws off my boyfriend when you left?"

"Yup. She's acting very … friendly today for some reason."

"I know dude! She even hugged me!"

"Yeah I saw the hug!"

"That was weird."

"Very weird."

"Hey, Andre?"

"Yeah?"

"Tell Beck that we're friends."

"W-what?"

"He thinks I need friends."

"What for?"

"To … bond with or something like that. I don't know."

"Well, Beck just wants you to be happy. He cares about you."

"Yeah…" Jade trailed off as she stared out the window, lost in thought. "All right, let's get that pizza, huh?" She put the car in reverse and started to slowly back out of the driveway.

"Hey Jade?"

"Hm?"

"Watch out for any cats."

Andre and Jade looked at each and sniggered.

* * *

><p>"Tori!" Trina whined as she walked down the stairs. "Tori! I smell pizza and hear voices! What's going on down there? I'm ready for my massage now. Tori –AHHHHH!"<p>

Trina shrieked louder than she ever had before as she approached the living room wearing nothing but a very short towel around her body, only to find herself surrounded by her sister and the majority of her sister's friends, all sitting on the couch eating pizza and having a grand old time.

"Oh my god, Trina!" Tori shouted. "Why aren't you wearing anything?"

But Trina had run back upstairs, screaming in horror.

"I cannot unsee what I just saw!" Andre cried out, covering his eyes.

Tori shook her head in disbelief while Cat giggled and hid her face. Jade was sitting on Beck's lap, shielding his eyes.

"Ok, I think that was our cue to leave. It's getting late anyways and we've got school tomorrow." Andre stood up and started to gather his belongings.

"Yeah, we've got to walk to the car", Jade said, getting off of Beck.

"I'll drive you home, Little Red", Andre said to Cat.

"Kay kay, thanks Andre! Bye Tori, I'll see you tomorrow!" Cat moved towards Tori to hug her, but for each step she took forward, Tori took one step back. Cat frowned.

"What's wrong?"

"Oh – uh – nothing." Tori gave the redhead a quick hug and a rub on the back. _"Huh, that wasn't so bad",_ she thought to herself as her knees started knocking together.

"Back to detective work tomorrow!" Cat said cheerily.

"Absolutely", replied Tori, faking a smile.

Cat took her bag and went over to Andre.

"Bye guys", Andre said. Everyone waved and said goodbye. Cat waved at everyone as well, who waved back.

"Can I play with the keyboard on the way to my house?" she asked Andre as they headed towards the front door.

"Only if you put it on a very low volume."

"Yay!"

Jade took Beck's book bag from the couch and slung it over her shoulder.

"You're being pleasant", he commented.

"Yes I am. Now let's go."

"Bye Tori," Beck said, giving her a light punch on the shoulder.

"Why did you just touch her?" Jade asked accusingly.

"I was saying goodbye!" Beck protested, rolling his eyes.

"You already said goodbye! There was no need for physical contact!"

"It was a small punch!"

"If you want to break up, just tell me now!"

"Jade", Beck sighed.

"Beck", Jade mimicked him.

They two of them left squabbling.

"Bye Jade!" Tori called out to the empty doorway. She looked around. It was empty. Now she was alone. Well, except for a traumatized Trina upstairs. And thoughts were flowing back to Tori's mind. Cat on top of her. Cat holding a watermelon up to her lips. Singing with Cat. Cat hugging her. Tori didn't know how to get the thoughts to stop. She had nothing to do to distract herself. Unless …

"Trina! You still want that massage?"

* * *

><p>"Just hurry up", Jade said impatiently as Beck got out of the car. He had forgotten his science essay paper at Tori's house and didn't realize it until they were almost at his place. Jade didn't understand why Beck couldn't just get the paper at school the next day. But he insisted, and kept trying to kiss her while she drove until she pulled over and turned around to drive back.<p>

As soon as Jade saw Beck enter the house, she looked at the clock on the dashboard and started a timer in her head. Anything longer than two minutes meant that something was going on between Tori and her boyfriend. Jade looked down at the passenger seat, where Beck had left his book bag. Making sure that he wasn't on his way back already, Jade opened the bag.

There were countless papers inside. Notes, scripts, to-do lists and schedules. Jade tried to read everything closely, to make sure that there were no secret love letters or anything. Scowling that there was nothing to yell at Beck about, Jade stuck her hand all the way to the bottom of the bag. She grabbed something thick and pulled it out. It was a small notepad.

There was a very detailed picture of a cat on the front page. Jade was definitely sure that this notepad did not belong to Beck. She flipped through a few pages, and saw more drawings of trees, rainbows, bunnies, hearts, and unicorns. It was pretty obvious who drew them.

"What is Beck doing with Cat's notepad?" Jade asked herself out loud. She flipped through until she came to the last page. Jade's eyes widened. It was a sketch of a person's face. A female person, to be more specific. There wasn't too much detail, but Jade would know that mug anywhere she saw it.

Tori Vega.


	7. Of Giraffes, Love, Trees, and Cats

**Chapter Seven**

**Of Giraffes, Love, Trees and Cats**

"A giraffe who learns to love a WHAT?"

"…A tree."

Jade stomped angrily towards Tori, who gulped and cowered away. They were in the theater room at school; it was lunchtime and everyone else was outside. There were no witnesses in sight.

"We have to present our scene in front of class in two days, and you're telling me that your part is about a giraffe who learns to love a tree?" Jade shouted.

"Yes", Tori responded, sweating profusely.

"Oh no! No no no no no! Absolutely not! What is wrong with you Vega? Why didn't you tell Cat that was an awful idea and come up with something else?"

"It was both of our ideas, kinda", Tori protested. "I'm sure we can make it work. What did you and Beck come up with?"

"We're doing a scene from a script I just finished. It's about a girl who's all alone in the world with no friends or family. Now how do you expect us to combine my work of art with your and Cat's crazy idea?"

Tori shrugged and backed away even more. Jade moved closer.

"Let me see the scene you wrote", Jade demanded.

"Well …", Tori began.

"Well?" Jade growled.

"We haven't exactly finished it yet."

"You – what?"

"Actually we haven't even started yet."

Tori shielded her face, awaiting a complete blowup from Jade but there was only silence. She peeked over her hands to see the other girl sitting on a chair with her arms crossed.

"You haven't started yet", Jade repeated.

"No", Tori answered hesitantly. "Cat's completely focused on finding out what happened to Mr. Snickerdoodle so we've been keeping an eye on the guy that she thinks killed him."

"Right, the cat, of course", Jade said calmly.

"So, you're not mad?" Tori asked, feeling a little more comfortable.

Jade said nothing and stood up. All of a sudden she screamed and charged towards Tori, who screamed as well and nearly crashed into the wall behind her trying to run away. Jade grabbed Tori's shirt collar and got right in her face.

"Ok listen up, Vega. You are going to get together with Cat after school and you are going to stay together with Cat until the two of you come up with a full decent scene that can be combined with mine and Beck's. There will be no talk of dead cats and ridiculous murder mysteries. This assignment is due in two days and we need to practice the whole scene as a group before we do it in front of class."

Tori nodded quickly. Jade released her collar and Tori fell to the floor. Jade knelt down next to her.

"You know what? You work on the script by yourself so Cat can't put in any of her crazy ideas. I'll talk to her myself after school and get her to forget this stupid murder mystery thing once and for all."

Jade reached into her back pocket and pulled out a small pair of scissors. She held them up to Tori's face. Tori froze.

"Come up with a good script, Vega, or I'll be forced to give you a haircut like the one I gave to Sinjin last week."

"Do what she says, Tori", came a voice from the doorway. Both girls turned to look. Sinjin was standing there with a very uneven mohawk on his head. They all stared at each other for a few seconds before Sinjin slowly backed away and left.

"I suggest you get started as soon as possible", Jade said to Tori in a phony nice voice. She tapped Tori's nose twice with the edge of the scissors and put them back in her pocket. "Talk to you later, Vega!"

Jade picked up her bag and stomped out of the room. Tori shuddered and grabbed her hair to make sure it was still on her head where it belonged.

"Hey, do you think girls will find my new hairdo cool?" Sinjin was back in the doorway.

"No", Tori answered, shaking her head. "Not at all."

"Aw man", Sinjin sighed. "Hey did you receive my request on The Slap?"

"Yes I did, and no I won't be your girlfriend!"

"Hm, that's ok. Maybe next time." Sinjin shrugged and ran his fingers through his uneven hair. "Do you want to see my laser? It's green and plays rock music."

"No!" Tori almost shouted. "I have work to do, Sinjin."

"Oh, ok." Sinjin winked and tried to do a hair flip. "Just call me if you ever want to see my laser."

"I'll be sure to do that", Tori said irritatedly as Sinjin left once again. She looked over at the clock. Class didn't start for another twenty minutes. Tori reached into her book bag and pulled out some paper. She got out a pen and began scribbling furiously whatever ideas came into her head for the scene with Cat. Ideas that involved minimal physical contact, of course.

* * *

><p>Jade had always hated surprises. Especially when they came in the form of a small redheaded girl standing in her room when she arrived home from school.<p>

"Cat? What are you doing here?" Jade asked heatedly.

"Your mom let me in", Cat answered innocently. "She said you'd be home soon so I could wait in your room."

Jade shook her head in disbelief. "Ok, I really need to have a talk with that woman about boundaries. Why are you here?"

"You texted me, remember?" Cat held up her cell phone. "You asked if I wanted to hang out after school."

"Yes, and a proper response to that text would have been 'Sure Jade, let's come up with a mutually convenient time to meet up'. You don't just invite yourself to someone's house!"

"But I do it all the time", Cat replied confusedly. "Should I leave now and text you later to ask what time I can come back?"

"Well what's the point of that? You're already here!" Jade exclaimed. "Whatever. So I just wanted to talk to you about something."

"Kay kay", Cat answered happily. "Talk about what?"

"The scene that you have to write for Sikowitz's class. Vega told me you guys haven't started it yet."

"We have our idea", Cat explained. "But we've been really busy trying to catch the guy who killed Mr. Snickerdoodle. I bet he'll slip up in a month or so and admit to doing it!"

"A – a month?" Jade sputtered. "Cat, this assignment is due in two days!"

Cat didn't reply to that. She stood in place, swaying back and forth and smiling while looking around absentmindedly. Jade took a deep breath and tried to calm herself before continuing to speak.

"So your idea is about a … giraffe who learns to love trees, right?"

"Yup", Cat answered cheerfully. "Isn't that silly?"

"Oh, it's definitely something", Jade said. "But see, it doesn't really go with the scene that Beck and I are doing, so I told Vega to rewrite the whole thing."

"Tori's not going to rewrite it", Cat said. "She liked my idea and then added on an idea of hers. We agreed on it together and everything."

"Trust me, she's going to rewrite it", Jade replied knowingly. "Don't worry I'm sure her new idea will be really good. It better be." She said the last part under her breath.

"Tori's not going to rewrite it", Cat repeated with confidence. "We can both finish the script and focus on Mr. Snickerdoodle's murderer at the same time."

Jade resisted the urge to scream, but the rage was boiling in her blood.

"Cat, what do you think is going to happen if this guy admits he killed the cat, huh? Are the police going to arrest him? No! Is he going to be sent out of the country? No! It was an accident! There's nothing you can do about it, so just forget about Mr. Snickerdoodle and let's focus on what's important! Like school!"

"I thought you were going to help me solve the mystery." Cat pouted.

"You want help? Fine! I'll be glad to help you! AFTER we get this scene done!" Jade yelled.

"Well Tori's helping me now", Cat said sadly. "She's helping a lot. She cares about Mr. Snickerdoodle almost as much as I do."

"Well whoopee-doo for Vega", Jade gritted her teeth. "Really, Cat, you need to take a step back. Have you been keeping up with your schoolwork? What about the five designs we need to sketch out for makeup class?"

"Oh I started those already", Cat's eyes lit up happily. "I drew a unicorn design. I just need to figure out how to attach a large horn to someone's forehead. I tried practicing on my brother but he bit me. And I also have a cat design, and a whole rainbow across the face! Wanna see my sketches?"

"Uh yeah, no thanks", Jade replied. "But actually that reminds me. I found your notepad last week. Here."

Jade walked over to her dresser and picked up the notepad up. She handed it to Cat, who looked at the front page and smiled.

"This is Mr. Snickerdoodle", Cat said, showing Jade.

"I know, I saw it already", Jade answered. "It's actually a really good drawing. Most of your pictures in there were good. Though I can't say much about your choice of people to draw."

"What do you mean?" Cat asked confusedly.

"Your picture of Vega", Jade answered.

"Tori?" Cat looked down at the floor and started fidgeting with her fingers. "What about Tori? There's no picture of Tori on the last page of my notepad." She tried to hide the notepad behind her back.

"Yes there is", Jade said with annoyance, grabbing the notepad back and flipping to the last page. "See?"

Cat glanced at the sketch of Tori and then quickly averted her eyes. Her body started shaking. She looked around the room for the quickest escape route. Jade was closer to the door than she was, and there was no way she could safely jump out of a two-story window. Cat whimpered and backed up until her legs hit something. Quickly she spun around and leaped very ungracefully onto Jade's bed. She yanked the covers over her head and curled up into a ball.

Jade stared, dumbstruck, at the trembling lump on her bed.

"Cat?" she said. "What are you doing?"

The lump stopped moving.

"Caaat", Jade sang, sitting down on her bed. "I know you're under there. Come on out."

There was no response.

"Come on Cat." Jade put her hand on the lump. "Ok, seriously, this is getting weird. I'm talking to my bed cover. Come out."

Jade looked around her room, thinking. Then she reached under her bed and pulled out a screwdriver.

"Look Cat, I've got something shiny", Jade said.

A small bit of red hair and two curious brown eyes peeked out from under the covers.

"Shiny?" Cat squeaked. She sat up and happily took the screwdriver from Jade. Jade watched in wonder as the redhead began playing with the screwdriver as if it was the most exciting thing in the world.

"So why did you freak out like that when I showed you your drawing of Vega?" Jade asked.

Cat whined and promptly buried herself back under the covers, still holding the screwdriver. Jade sighed impatiently.

"It's not bad or anything", Jade said. "It's actually a really good sketch, you know, for being Vega and all. It takes real talent to make her look decent."

"You really like it?" Cat stuck her head out of the covers again.

"Uh, sure", Jade answered.

"Please don't tell Tori about it", Cat requested timidly. "I'm not ready yet."

"You're not ready for what?" Jade asked.

"I mean it's not ready yet", Cat quickly replied. "It's not finished."

"Oh. Well I won't tell Vega", Jade promised. "Besides, she can't have any distractions tonight. She's got a lot of work to do."

* * *

><p>"Trina I can't have any distractions tonight! I've got a lot of work to do!"<p>

"Toriiiii!" Trina whined and shoved her pair of five-inch heels into her sister's face. "Pleaseeeee? I need you to break these in for me! I wanna wear them to school tomorrow!"

"It doesn't work like that!" Tori exclaimed. "You have to break in your own heels."

"But if I don't get to the mall in thirty minutes the cute guy who works at the yogurt counter is going to leave! And I have to take the bus because I'm not allowed to drive for another week, remember? So I need to leave now! Please?"

"No", Tori said firmly.

"Please!"

"Trina, leave your sister alone. She's doing schoolwork." Mrs. Vega walked into the living room from the kitchen.

"Mom!" Trina cried out happily and ran over to her mother. "Can you break in my new heels for me?"

"Sorry honey, I'm busy right now", Mrs. Vega replied. "Besides, your feet are too big. The heels wouldn't fit me anyway."

And with that, Mrs. Vega went upstairs, leaving behind a very offended Trina. But she didn't stay like that for long. She immediately ran towards her father who was sitting at the kitchen table.

"Daaaaad!"

"Don't even bother asking. No."

"I want a new family!" Trina whined. She crossed her arms and stomped upstairs to her room, tossing the heels onto the floor.

"So, what are you working on kiddo?" Mr. Vega asked Tori. "Something for school?"

"Yeah, it's a scene that we're presenting in front of class."

"What's it about?" Mr. Vega inquired.

"A girl who slowly loses touch with reality and goes crazy", Tori answered.

"Sounds … disturbing."

"Yeah, it's not my first idea but I had to write a scene that can be combined with the one Jade wrote."

"Jade? She's the unpleasant one right?"

"Yup."

"Ok. I've got to go down to the station for a little bit. I'm going to get ready." Mr. Vega ruffled Tori's hair before he walked towards the stairs. "Ow! TRINA! Your heels just perforated my feet!" Mr. Vega grabbed the heels from the floor and hobbled the rest of the way up the stairs.

Tori chuckled and then turned her attention back to the script. She had only a few more lines to write before it was finished. Tori frowned and tried to rack her brain. The endings were always the hardest part to come up with. You could never go wrong with a nice happy fairy tale ending, but that wasn't even a possibility with this script.

A loud beep interrupted Tori's thoughts. She looked over at the table where her cell phone was and picked it up. There was one new text message from Cat. Tori's heart fluttered at seeing the redhead's name. With a deep breath, she opened the message and read it.

_ "Can I ring the doorbell?"_

Tori curiously glanced over towards the door, then at her phone, and back at the door again. She stood up and walked over to open it. There was Cat sitting on the ground outside of her house.

"Hi Tori!" The redhead waved.

"Cat, how long have you been sitting there?"

"Almost a half hour", Cat replied casually.

"A half hour? Why didn't you knock or ring the bell?" Tori asked.

"Jade said I shouldn't invite myself to people's houses", Cat answered glumly. "And she also said that you couldn't be disturbed tonight because you were busy. But I had something really important to tell you so I didn't know what to do."

"Don't listen to Jade." Tori said. "You know you can come over here anytime."

"Really?"

"Of course."

"Yay!" Cat's face brightened and she wrapped her arms around Tori, who froze in place. The butterflies were back in her stomach. And they brought friends.

"C-Come in", she stammered.

The girls went inside the house and stood in silence for almost a minute.

"So, uh, you wanted to tell me something important?" Tori tried to make her tone sound relaxed, even though her heart was beating a mile a minute.

"Yeah", Cat replied. "I wanted to apologize."

"For what?" Tori asked.

"Lately we've been focusing so much on the guy who killed Mr. Snickerdoodle. I didn't even think that you might have had other things to do." Cat looked down at the floor shyly.

"Don't apologize Cat", Tori answered carefully. "I know how much you care about Mr. Snickerdoodle and I want to find out what happened to him also."

"Yeah but we haven't really been concentrating on school lately. My work has been piling up."

"It's all right", Tori replied. "We'll get back on track."

"I know he's going to slip up, Tori, I just know it", Cat said confidently. "That long haired boy is going to admit that he killed Mr. Snickerdoodle. But that'll probably take time. Meanwhile we have a scene to perform in front of class in two days."

"Yeah, about that", Tori said slowly.

"I know Jade told you to write it tonight and that's why you were busy", Cat stated.

"Oh, yeah, I'm actually almost-."

"But you don't have to write it! Look!" Cat held up some papers. "I started when I got home and I just couldn't stop. The ending is my favorite part." She giggled and handed the script to Tori, who stared at it in incredulity.

Tori skimmed through the pages quickly. She saw the words "tree", "love", and "giraffe" appear multiple times, so it was obvious what the plot was. She looked up at Cat who was smiling cheerfully.

"You wrote the whole thing?" Tori asked.

"Yup", Cat grinned. "Sikowitz and the whole class are going to love it."

"Yeah. Uh well, I spoke to Jade today and she said that our scene won't combine well with hers and Beck's at all."

"But Tori", Cat began, grabbing the other girl's arm and pulling her close. "We're actors. We should be able to make anything work, right?" The redhead looked extremely proud of herself.

"Y-Yeah, you're right." Tori's body started tingling.

"I spoke to Jade today too", Cat said. "She thought that you were going to write a brand new script."

"Did she?" Tori choked out. She tried to maneuver her position so that the script on the living room table wasn't visible.

"Yeah don't worry. I told her you wouldn't do that. But Jade seemed really mad though."

"She was pretty mad", Tori admitted. "She threatened to cut my hair off and give me a mohawk like Sinjin has now."

Cat snickered. "That would look silly."

"It would look very silly", Tori agreed. "So I don't know. Maybe we should do what Jade says?"

"But Tori, before you told me not to listen to Jade."

"I-I did? Oh I did." Tori's face fell as she remembered.

Cat took Tori's hand in her own, causing the brunette to start shaking. She pulled them both over to the couch and sat down.

"Don't worry, Tori. I'm sure Beck will understand. And we'll both talk to Jade tomorrow. And we'll explain how good our scene is. Together the two of us can handle anything!"

Tori found it very difficult to concentrate on what Cat was saying as her body seemed to be going into epileptic shock.

"And if Jade tries to cut your hair, I'll stop her!"

"Really?" Tori asked. The shaking stopped and she suddenly smiled, feeling flattered.

"No", Cat replied sadly. "She's too strong for me. I bet Beck would stop her though."

And the flattered feeling was gone.

"Hey what's that?" Cat was eyeing the script on the table with interest.

"Nothing. Just homework." Tori quickly grabbed the papers and shoved them behind her back.

"Oh ok. So that's all I wanted to tell you. I need to get home and feed my brother now. Read over the scene and if there's anything you want to change, just let me know. Your hand is really soft." Cat rubbed Tori's hand and smiled. Tori felt her face flush. She wanted to respond but couldn't get any words to come out. Cat handed Tori her script.

"Bye Tori! Happy reading! Let me know what you think of the ending." Cat skipped to the door joyfully and let herself out.

Tori grabbed the script that she had hid behind her back. She looked at it angrily. Then she looked at Cat's script. She put the two of them next to each other on the table. Tori covered her head with her hands as memories flooded through her mind.

_"We have to present our scene in front of class in two days, and you're telling me that your part is about a giraffe who learns to love a tree?"_

_ "Do what she says, Tori."_

_ "Come up with a good script, Vega, or I'll be forced to give you a haircut like the one I gave to Sinjin last week."_

_ "Do what she says, Tori."_

_ "I suggest you get started as soon as possible."_

_ "Do what she says, Tori."_

_ "Together the two of us can handle anything!"_

Thinking about what Cat had said made a strong wave of confidence flow through Tori's body. She found herself standing over the garbage can, unsure of when or how she got there. Her nearly finished script about a girl who goes crazy was in her hands. With one swift movement, Tori tried to rip the whole thing in half. This turned out to be pretty difficult though, so Tori settled for one page at a time. Eventually the whole thing was completely destroyed and in what looked like a million pieces.

"Huh … that was overly dramatic. But very satisfying", Tori commented to herself.

She smirked as she covered up the garbage can. Then Tori went over to the living room table, picked up Cat's script, and headed up to her bedroom to read all about the giraffe who learns to love trees.


	8. Case Closed

**Chapter Eight**

**Case Closed**

The person who was wearing a hood and had sunglasses on motioned for Beck to come into the theater room. Beck pointed at himself questioningly, then turned around to see if perhaps the person was gesturing to someone else. There was no one behind him so Beck cautiously entered the room. The person in the hood motioned for Beck to move faster. He paused and then hesitantly started walking again.

"Beck, it's me!" the person exclaimed, and pulled off their sunglasses and the hood.

"Tori?" Beck asked, squinting his eyes. "Hey. What's up with the disguise and the big hood?"

"I'm protecting my hair", Tori answered nervously.

"From what?"

"Jade."

"Jade?" Beck look puzzled for a second. "Oh, the Sinjin thing! You don't have to worry about Jade cutting your hair. That's only if you really make her mad."

Tori gulped and did not respond.

"And you really made her mad", Beck commented with a sigh. "Ok, come on." He sat down and patted the seat of the chair next to his. "What happened?"

"Well you know the scene we have to perform for Sikowitz's class?" Tori asked, sitting down.

"Yeah, the one that's due tomorrow that we seriously need to get working on", Beck replied.

"Did Jade tell you about the scene that Cat and I are doing?" Tori inquired nervously.

"Something about a gorilla and a tree?" Beck asked.

"A giraffe", Tori nearly whispered.

"Cat's idea right?" Beck smirked.

"Um, we both kind of came up with it, really. But anyway, Jade didn't like the idea."

"She hated it", Beck corrected. "She told me."

"Right, and yesterday she told me to write up a brand new, completely different scene." Tori squirmed uneasily on the chair.

"And?" Beck asked.

"And I didn't."

Beck put his head in his hands and sighed.

"Tori, the giraffe idea is pretty…odd", he said. "Why didn't you guys come up with something else?"

"Well, actually I did", Tori began. "But then Cat came over and she had finished the giraffe script already and she was so happy and proud of it and I … just … I don't know…" Tori trailed off uncomfortably.

"You didn't want to upset Cat?" Beck asked.

Tori shook her head.

"You know that means upsetting Jade instead?"

Tori nodded.

"Jade's pretty scary when she's upset", Beck remarked.

"I know", Tori agreed. "But maybe when Jade reads the script Cat wrote, she'll like it after all and change her mind. My hair will be safe right?"

"Tori?"

"Yeah?"

"Put your hood back on."

"Yeah…" Tori groaned and pulled the hood back over her head.

Just then, there was a thunderous bang as the doors of the theater room were thrown open.

"VEGA!" a voice yelled.

Jade stood in the doorway; her face was red with fury. She stomped toward Tori. Trailing behind her was a very terrified looking Cat.

"Vega! Why is Cat asking me if I own brown and yellow clothes for a interpretative dance as giraffes in our scene tomorrow?"

"D-Dance?" Tori stuttered. "That wasn't in Cat's script!"

"Cat's script?" Jade exclaimed. "No, Vega. I told you to write the script all by yourself. You're not funny so stop trying to joke around. Where's the script you wrote?"

"I-I didn't write one." Tori worriedly spoke. "Cat wrote our scene."

Jade whipped her head around to look at Cat who waved shyly. Then Jade looked back at Tori. She growled. Slowly Jade reached into her back pocket and pulled out her scissors. Tori whimpered and started to back up. Jade looked Tori's hair up and down. Then she shouted and bounded towards Tori, wielding the scissors. Tori screamed and tried to run away. Cat squealed and tried to hold Jade back, while Beck carefully grabbed his girlfriend's shoulders and pulled her aside.

"Hey! Hey! Stop it! Come on", Beck struggled to take the scissors out of Jade's hand. "That's dangerous! What do we say about scissors?"

"Scissors are for paper not for people", Jade recited, rolling her eyes.

Tori and Cat watched the couple's exchange; both girls were very out of breath and shaken up. Cat looked at Tori, her eyes were apologetic. Tori bit her lip nervously.

"Ok, listen guys", Beck started. "This assignment is due tomorrow so we've got to just work with what we have. We'll combine the scenes in the best way that we can."

Tori saw that Jade didn't have the scissors in her hand anymore, so she figured it was safe to speak to her.

"Jade, Cat's script is actually pretty good! Just read it and you'll see."

"You really liked it, Tori?" Cat asked bashfully.

"Yeah", Tori answered with a small grin.

Cat's face brightened as she giggled. She walked over to hug Tori's arm and held on. Tori smiled involuntarily and felt as if her whole body had turned to jelly. Jade still looked absolutely furious and Beck looked like he wanted to be anywhere but there at the moment.

"Hey!" Cat said happily. "How about you guys change your scene instead so it can match better with ours?"

Jade opened her mouth to say something nasty, but Beck held his arm out to stop her.

"Cat, we don't have time to rewrite a whole new scene. We have to be ready to perform by tomorrow."

"I'm really good at coming up with scenes and then writing them really fast", Cat insisted. "I've got it!" She held her finger up delightedly. "Why don't we reenact the murder of Mr. Snickerdoodle? Beck, you can totally play the boy with the long hair!"

"NOOOOO!" Jade shouted. "NO NO NO NO NO!" The wrath was back and it was more intense than ever. "I can't hear about that cat anymore! NO MORE!"

Beck was so taken aback by his girlfriends' sudden rage that he was frozen in his place. Jade swiped the scissors out of Beck's hand and put them back into her pocket. Cat and Tori grabbed on to each other tightly in fear. Tori completely forgot about any sensations she had been feeling at the moment from being so close to the other girl.

"CAT!" Jade screamed.

"What-y?" Cat replied uneasily. She tightened her grip on Tori's arm even more.

"Show me the kid who killed Mr. Snickerdoodle. Now! We're ending this once and for all."

"Kay kay", Cat answered cautiously. She let go of Tori and awkwardly led an infuriated Jade out of the room. Beck and Tori stared at each other for a few seconds before both nodding and following the girls out.

The four of them walked through the halls and outside to the lunch tables. Cat looked around for the long haired boy; she spotted him right away sitting at his usual table. He was with his friends. Cat pointed at him and Jade stormed over. The boy looked up and flinched when he saw Cat.

"Get up!" Jade yelled. The boy complied immediately.

"Why are you girls picking on me?" he wailed. "I'm gonna tell my mom!"

"Shut up!" Jade grabbed the boy's collar and forced him to look at Cat. "Now tell that girl you killed her cat and that you're very sorry about it and it will never happen again!"

"But I didn't do it!"

"Tell her!"

"I want my mom!"

"ARGH!"

Jade pulled out her scissors, and in only a few seconds she had tackled the boy to the ground and started cutting off his hair. He shrieked and yelled for help. Everyone was circling around them. Some people were laughing, others just looked uncomfortable. No one seemed to want to go near the crazy girl with the scissors, so Jade continued with the spontaneous haircut.

Cat was standing off to the side; she was clapping her hands and jumping up and down happily. Tori and Beck stared at the altercation with their mouths wide open.

"What's going on?"

Tori saw that her sister had come over to check out the show.

"Jade's torturing the kid who killed Mr. Snickerdoodle by cutting off his hair until he admits what he did", Beck explained.

Trina winced.

"Ouch. Well, the guy deserves it for what he did. What a jerk, huh Tori?" Trina pinched her sister in the side before stumbling away in her five-inch heels.

"Maybe this is a good thing", Beck said doubtfully. "Getting all of Jade's anger out, you know?"

"Yeah, at least it's not directed towards me", Tori replied. She grabbed her hair to once again make sure it was where it belonged on her head.

"That boy didn't do what Jade said, did he?" remarked Sinjin as he walked by and shook his head in concern. His mohawk flopped back and forth. "I doubt he'll look as cool as I do." Sinjin winked at Tori before also walking off.

Tori groaned and turned her attention back to the former long-haired boy. Jade was still at it. She was shouting, he was crying and hair was flying every which way. Tori felt immense guilt for what this innocent boy was being put through. She kept insisting to herself that this was better than the alternative. Having Cat be upset with her for not telling her that Trina was really the one who killed Mr. Snickerdoodle was the last thing Tori wanted.

Wondering where Cat was, Tori looked around. The redhead was only a few feet away from the craziness. Tori frowned. Cat's eyes were completely focused on Jade. Tori had seen Cat with that expression before. Cat was looking at Jade in the same way she had looked at Fred, or 'Couch Man' the week before. It was the way she looked at any of her favorite heroes. There was admiration in Cat's eyes. Adoration even.

The guilt that Tori was feeling slowly morphed into something else. Anger. Not anger towards Cat, anger towards Jade. Where did it come from? Tori had no idea.

"That's it, I'm going to stop her", Beck suddenly said. "This is getting ugly. And so is that boy. Ugh."

Tori would have offered to help, but she was too busy glaring at Jade, with absolutely no reason as to why she was so angry.

* * *

><p>Beck ran over to Jade as soon as she exited the principal's office.<p>

"What happened? What did she say?" he asked impatiently.

"I'm suspended for five days", Jade replied.

Beck groaned in frustration and ran his hands through his hair.

"All right, I'll go talk to Helen", he said, starting towards the principal's office.

"No, don't." Jade grabbed her boyfriend's arm and pulled him back. He looked at her in confusion.

"Then come on, let's go talk to Lane. Maybe he can fix this."

"Dude, it's fine really", Jade insisted.

"Jade you were suspended!"

"Well I kinda deserved it. I did bad things with scissors." Jade looked down at the floor guiltily.

"Yeah, you did", Beck agreed. "But five days is a lot."

"Hey, you know what? At this point five days off sounds like a vacation. I need a break from school anyway." Jade shrugged.

Beck looked at Jade, unsure of what to think.

"If you're upset, don't hold it in. We can fix this, I promise."

"Dude stop!" Jade laughed. "Seriously, I'm fine."

"I don't know about that", Beck said doubtfully. "You were pretty heated before. What set you off?"

"You're kidding right?" Jade replied. "Vega, Cat, and their whole dead cat thing! I was sick of hearing about it and I knew those two pathetic so-called 'detectives' wouldn't be able to solve their mystery anytime soon. And look – in just minutes I got that boy to admit what he did."

"I think he would have admitted to doing anything you said he did", Beck replied amusedly. "You may have done bad things with scissors but you did a good thing for your friend. I'm proud of you."

"Ew, I didn't do it for Cat", Jade said, making a face.

"Ok, so you did it for me then, right?" Beck wrapped his arms around Jade's neck and gently kissed her on the lips. "To prove what a good friend you are."

"No. I did it so Vega and Cat would shut up and start focusing on our assignment."

Beck frowned and then his eyed widened.

"The assignment", he groaned. "You're not going to be here to perform with us tomorrow."

"Nope. I'm going to go talk to Sikowitz now and see when I can make it up. But you have fun dancing as a giraffe!" Jade smirked.

"Well, I'm glad you can laugh about it now", Beck replied. "So you're honestly ok with everything? With the suspension? You're not angry?"

"I'm fine", Jade said irritatedly. "I've gotta get my stuff out of my locker. Call me later."

Beck watched glumly as his girlfriend strode off down the hallway and turned the corner. What he did not see, however, was her large boot smashing right into the wall, leaving a rather large hole.

* * *

><p>"Did you see how much he cried?" Cat hopped up and down happily.<p>

"I saw him cry", Tori replied tonelessly, as she put her books into her locker.

"He was so scared!"

"Yeah, scared."

"And he actually admitted what he did to Mr. Snickerdoodle!"

"Yeah."

"The mystery is over!"

"It's very over."

"Jade was so cool!"

Tori had been trying to shove her math book into a very small gap between two other books. It wouldn't fit, so she threw it onto the floor. Angrily, she picked it back up.

"Wasn't Jade cool, Tori?"

"Yeah, Jade was fantastic", Tori replied. The redhead didn't seem to notice the other girl's sarcasm or irate behavior.

"I can't believe she got suspended." Cat noted sadly.

"Yeah, suspended."

"Maybe we can do something to help her."

"Yeah, maybe."

"But I think it was made official and she left already."

"Oh."

"So there's probably nothing we can do."

"Nope."

"That's so sad". Cat sounded very upset. "Jade helped me and I can't help her back."

Tori slammed her locker door shut, making Cat jump.

"It's ok, Tori," Cat said assuringly. "Jade will be back in a few days. But now we'll have to do the scene tomorrow with just Beck."

"Yeah", Tori agreed with a sigh.

"We should all meet up later and rehearse."

"Yeah."

"We have to be good tomorrow! For Jade!"

"Yeah." Tori found herself clenching her fist together tightly. She glanced up at the clock. "I've gotta get to Trina in the parking lot before she leaves." Tori sped off without another word.

"Kay kay. Bye Tori!" Cat waved and then frowned at the other girl's lack of response.

Tori felt awful for being so short with Cat, but she just couldn't get those angry feelings out of her head. She made her way outside to the parking lot and saw Trina in her car just about to leave. Tori ran over to the car and tried to open the passenger door. It was locked. Tori banged on the window. Trina didn't respond. Tori ran over to the other side of the car and knocked on Trina's window.

Trina looked at her sister and pointed at her wrist expectantly as if there was a watch there. Then she shrugged and started to drive forward a bit. Fuming, Tori ran in front of the car and crossed her arms. Rolling her eyes irritatedly, Trina unlocked the door so her sister could get in the car.

"I don't know why I'm being so nice to you", Trina started as Tori buckled her seatbelt. "After you rudely refused to help me last night by breaking in my heels. I think I have a permanent blister now!"

"Can we just go home?" Tori snapped.

"Well!" Trina said offendedly. "What bit you in the butt, huh?"

"Nothing", Tori sighed and put her hand on her head. "Sorry. Mom's coming home early today. We better hurry before she sees you driving."

Trina applied more pressure to the gas pedal and soon they were speeding along the streets.

"I can drive normally now, since I'm off the hook for killing your friend's cat", Trina explained. "So what happened to that poor boy who was getting tortured?"

"I think his mom picked him up from school early to take him to the barber", Tori answered.

"And what happened to your angry friend?"

"She got suspended."

"Yeesh", Trina made a relieved face. "Glad I wasn't involved in any of that. I guess I should thank you for not letting me tell Cat what I did."

"So thank me."

"Nah."

Tori sighed in frustration.

"Why aren't you happy?" Trina asked her sister. "The mystery is over. You don't have to lie to Cat anymore. She thinks that boy killed Mr. Snickerdoodle and he admitted to doing it. I just can't believe your angry friend got him to admit something he didn't even do. That's kind of awesome."

"It is not awesome!" Tori exclaimed heatedly. "Jade always has to solve problems in the most forceful way possible! I totally could have got that guy to admit what he did without the possibility of him needing a lot of therapy in the future! I was the one who was helping Cat first! I should have been the one to get that boy to admit what he did!"

"Uh, Tori", Trina said in bewilderment. "He's not the one who did it. I am."

"Well Cat doesn't know that!" Tori retorted. "You know, if cutting that guys hair off and scaring the chiz out of him was all we needed to do, I could have ended this whole thing myself last week!"

Trina snorted and started to laugh. She almost drove past a red light, but slammed on the breaks just in time.

"Tori, you couldn't cut someone's nails without feeling guilty about it!"

"That is not true!" Tori protested.

"Oh really?" The light turned green and Trina continued driving. "Remember when we were little kids and we used to play nail salon? Remember the ambulance that one time?"

"I thought I had cut your nail too deep!" Tori insisted. "So I called 911 to come and make sure you were ok. Does that make me a bad person?"

"You're not a bad person", Trina said. "You just worry too much about things that don't need to be worried about."

"Like what?" Tori asked.

"Like my nail ten years ago, for one thing", Trina replied. "And this whole cat murder mystery. It really didn't have to go this far. Cat would have forgotten all about it in no time if you didn't agree to help."

"So I'm wrong for wanting to help my friend?"

"No, but you don't have to say yes all the time Tori."

"I don't say yes all the time!"

"You don't have to always play along with her crazy little ideas."

"I don't!"

"I asked you to help me break in my new heels last night and you said no right away. Cat asks you to help her find out who accidently killed her little cat friend and you jump at the chance."

"I did not jump."

"You jumped."

"I told you. I helped because I didn't want her to find out that you killed Mr. Snickerdoodle. She would have been really upset."

"Tori. Cat gets upset when rainbows disappear."

"Well … it's pretty sad when they go away."

"And that's another thing!" Trina abruptly stopped at another red light. "You're acting so weird lately. I think spending so much time with Cat has been rubbing off on you."

"I have not been acting weird! How have I been acting weird?"

"Ooh, that's a cute top." Trina ignored her sister and pulled into a spot next to a clothing store. She hastily undid her seatbelt and got out of the car to run into the store.

"Trina!" Tori yelled. "We have to get home before mom does! Ugh." She leaned back into the seat and crossed her arms. "I have not been acting weird."

But Tori knew that was a lie. There was no other way to describe her recent behavior around Cat. And Trina barely knew the half of it. Tori had been hugging her other friends all week long and though it always felt very nice, there was just no feeling that could compare the one Tori got when she touched Cat. Which she had been successfully trying to avoid doing all week. It seemed as if Cat didn't even notice every time Tori would back away from a hug or make up an excuse to leave. Cat was still always around her all the time, whether in person, or in her mind.

Right on cue, Tori's cell phone started ringing and vibrating. She picked it up and looked at the screen. There was the picture of the happy redhead with her ice cream cone. Tori figured that Cat probably wanted to make plans with her and Beck to rehearse the scene. Tori was glad about the new scene situation. She liked acting with Beck. The boy definitely had talent.

Tori remembered the first time she was ever on stage with Beck. Though that was when Jade purposely spilled coffee on her head. The second time acting with Beck was much more satisfying. That was when they kissed in Sikowitz's class. Tori had done it strictly to piss Jade off, but it wasn't like she didn't get anything out of it also. Beck was a great kisser.

Tori had really liked Beck for a while. She knew he was taken, but she figured there was nothing wrong with liking him from afar. He had made a girl he barely knew tingle inside. But that tingle was nothing compared to the one she felt when Cat was on top of her. Or when she hugged her. Or when she brushed her up legs against hers.

After a few months or so, it became more of a good friendship than anything with Beck. She used to feel warm and fuzzy inside when Beck touched her, but it disappeared over time. So why was her relationship with Cat moving in the opposite direction?

A light bulb suddenly went off in Tori's head. She had an idea that could possibly either solve everything or make everything worse and more confusing. Taking a deep breath, she finally picked up her ringing phone and pushed the button to answer it.

"Hey Cat."

"Hi Tori! Are you ready to do some rehearsing for Sikowitz's assignment?"

"Sure am! And actually, I have a really great idea for our script. How about we add in a kiss?"


	9. An Impromptu Kiss

**Chapter Nine**

**An Impromptu Kiss**

"So your scene is about vegetables?" Robbie guessed.

"Nope." Cat giggled and covered her mouth. "Come on, what am I wearing?"

"You're wearing your broccoli costume from when we were the Diddly-Bops."

"But that's not what I am! Think harder."

"Um, are you some sort of fungus?"

"Stop being an idiot, Rob", Rex said. "The girl is clearly a pine tree."

Cat clapped her hands together happily.

"I'm actually an acacia tree!" she corrected. "But you were close!"

"If you're a tree then why are you wearing your broccoli costume?" Robbie asked.

"Because I don't have a tree costume, silly. Wheee!" Cat twirled in a circle and spun around the classroom.

"That girl's a little loopy", Rex commented.

"Who's a little loopy?" Andre asked, approaching.

"The broccoli over there", said Rex. Robbie pointed at Cat who was still twirling around and laughing.

"I don't even wanna know", Andre replied, shaking his head. "So are you ready to do this scene today?"

Rex scoffed.

"That's like asking someone if they're ready for invasive surgery. Robbie's not ready for anything. I still think you should let me do his part."

"Uh, sorry", Andre said awkwardly. "If you want to act then you need to be able to walk on your own."

"Aw man!" exclaimed Rex. "Lack of legs stops me again."

"Where are the other guys in our group?" Andre asked, looking around.

"Not here yet, but I'm sure they'll get here soon", Robbie replied.

"They better", Andre asserted. "At least Sikowitz isn't here yet."

"Hey guys!" Tori entered the classroom and walked up to the boys. Robbie and Rex both waved in response.

"What's up girl?" Andre asked.

"So you're going Jade-less today, huh?" Robbie said.

"Yup", Tori answered with a slight smile.

"I can't believe she got suspended", Robbie replied.

"I can't believe we missed the crazy hair cutting yesterday!" Andre cut in.

"Oh yeah, where were you guys?" Tori asked.

"Inside rehearsing for our scene", Andre answered. "Sinjin found us and told us everything but man, I wish I could have seen it."

"No you don't. Trust me, it was pretty brutal", Tori said with a hint of annoyance. "So are you guys ready to perform your scene?"

"We will be as soon as our other group members get here", Robbie responded.

"Completely undependable", Rex added.

"How about you?" Andre asked. "Are the tree and the giraffe getting along?"

"They definitely are", Tori said proudly. "We were able to tweak the scene a bit last night since Jade couldn't have any input. It's pretty cool. I don't want to ruin the whole thing, but the giraffe and the tree get to kiss!"

Andre and Robbie both stared at Tori in bewilderment.

"Is that even physically possible?" Robbie asked.

"Oh, you'll see", Tori replied happily.

"Well, if you're looking for your tree she's over there." Andre pointed over at Cat who was still giggling and spinning around.

"Good, there he is – wait what?" Tori ran over to the large broccoli, held it still and turned it around to face her.

"Hi Tori! Where's your costume?"

"Cat! What are you doing? You're supposed to be wearing the clothes I gave you!"

"I kept reading my lines over and over again last night", Cat explained. "But they were so sad. I don't want to be the crazy, lonely girl anymore. I want to be the tree!" Cat laughed.

"But Cat, Beck's supposed to be the tree!" Tori exclaimed. "I'm the giraffe, you're the crazy girl and Beck's the tree. We all agreed and rehearsed it that way last night!"

"Can't I be the tree?" Cat pouted.

"No!" For once Tori was not going to give in.

"Please?" Cat put on her puppy dog eyes.

"Cat!"

"Tori!"

"What's going on guys? Why are you wearing my costume?"

The girls had not even seen Beck enter the classroom, but he was now standing next to them.

"I'm going to be the tree, right Tori?" Cat nudged Tori's arm.

"Wait, I thought I was the tree", Beck said in confusion.

"You are", Tori replied exasperatedly.

"Then what's with this?" Beck motioned towards Cat's broccoli suit.

"Come on Beck", Cat begged. "You can be the giraffe and Tori can be the crazy girl."

"Cat, I don't know the lines of the crazy girl!" Tori replied.

"And I don't know the lines of the giraffe." Beck tried to sound pleasant. "I memorized the lines of the tree all night."

"Hey, don't you know the crazy girl part pretty well?" Cat asked.

"Uh, yeah", Beck answered. "Jade made me read the script like a hundred times so I know the whole thing by heart."

"Yay!" Cat said happily. "So Tori can stay as the giraffe and Beck can be the crazy girl!"

"Hey, whoa there! Hold on a second!" Beck proclaimed. "I'm not going to play a girl!"

"Don't worry, you'll be great", Cat said assuringly.

"Uh, heh", Beck chuckled nervously. "Tori, do something", he spoke under his breath and gritted his teeth.

Tori didn't know what to do or say so she stayed silent.

"I'll go get you a costume from my locker!" Cat said gleefully. "I have a super cute skirt you can wear." She skipped out of the classroom.

Beck was staring daggers at Tori. She opened her mouth to say something, possibly an apology, she wasn't sure, but he cut her off.

"Yeah yeah, don't want to upset Cat, I got it", he said with a loud sigh. "I'm gonna go put on some eyeliner." He shook his head in disapproval and slumped off to the boy's bathroom.

Tori scowled and crossed her arms. This was not a great way to start the day. And now her big plan to kiss Beck (well, Beck as the tree technically) on stage and possibly regain her crush on him was ruined. Now she'd have to kiss Cat instead.

…

Wait, WHAT?

* * *

><p>"Before we begin the performances I'd just like to commend some of you for going all out with your erm, costumes." Mr. Sikowitz coughed and cleared his throat. "Though I must say, you all look absolutely ridiculous." He kept looking over at Beck who was wearing a long black wig, a skirt that was way too short, and a tight black cardigan. Next to Beck was Cat in her broccoli costume and next to Cat was Tori who was wearing a yellow shirt with big brown spots, bright yellow pants and a large giraffe mask.<p>

"I cannot wait to see the scenes you came up with", Mr. Sikowitz continued. "Though I have a feeling some of them", he stared at Beck again. "Might scare me. Beck, what do we say we put you out of your misery and have your group perform first?"

Beck raised his hand in approval and stood up as carefully as he could. The skirt kept daring to ride up. He had never felt so exposed in all his life. Cat and Tori stood up as well. Cat was smiling and waved at the class as she got on the stage. Tori hadn't said a word since Beck returned from the bathroom. He figured she was just mentally preparing for the scene, but by the current look on her face, something was really freaking her out. Beck wanted to ask her what was wrong but she was standing a few feet away from him and he did not want to risk the walk.

Cat positioned herself towards the back of the stage, held her arms out and froze. Tori took her place, right near the redhead. Her heart was beating rapidly. Her mind was racing with thoughts of what she had to soon do with Cat. Thankfully she was wearing the giraffe mask so the class couldn't see the sweat pouring down her face.

"All right." Mr. Sikowitz took a seat in the front row, coconut in hand. "I can easily say by the way you're all dressed that I have absolutely no idea what this scene is about. However, it is the job of the actors to tell their story, to entertain us! So begin!"

_"I need to get out of this. How can I get out of this", _Tori thought to herself urgently._ "Should I fake a broken leg? No, too complicated. Maybe I should fake a broken lip so I don't have to kiss Cat. No, I don't think that's even possible. What should I do? What should I do?"_

Tori suddenly heard Beck clear his throat loudly. She glanced over at him and saw him staring at her expectantly. He was mouthing something to her but she couldn't understand. Tori squinted her eyes. Start, he was saying. Start? Start what? A hand took Tori's. She looked to see whose it was. It was Cat's hand. Cat? The kiss! The scene! Tori threw Cat's hand off of her own like it was burning hot and tried to remember her lines. Her mind was a blank.

"The world is such a cold place", Beck began loudly. "I have no friends. My family finds me utterly repulsive. And they are right. I am an ugly girl."

Some of the class snickered at that.

"My nose is too large", Beck continued. "My hair is too greasy. My eyes are different sizes. And my smile is nonexistent. The grasslands are my home now. But not even the animals will talk to me."

At once, Tori's lines flowed back to her.

"What a beautiful day!" she said. "The sun is shining, the meerkats are running to and fro, and the lions are hunting. The only thing that is not beautiful about this day is that tree over there. I do not like that tree."

Cat frowned and slightly lowered her arms, or her "branches".

"My neck is so long", Tori went on. "My mother says all of us giraffes have necks like these. But I don't like it at all. I look silly. I'd rather starve than stretch my neck to eat leaves from that tree."

Tori looked around and gasped in pretend shock as she saw Beck.

"A human!" Tori exclaimed. "I wonder what they're doing here and what their story is." She watched and waited for Beck to continue the scene, but then remembered that he had already said his lines out of order. The next part of the scene was her lines again.

"What a sad story", Tori said, her line meant to be in response to Beck's previous ones. "That girl is pretty ugly though. She reminds me of that tree."

Cat slowly walked towards Tori and put her hand on her shoulder. Tori started shaking.

"You think I'm ugly, Mr. Giraffe?" Cat asked sadly. Tears were welling up in her eyes. Tori's heart broke. Cat was definitely a good actress.

"I-I will only eat f-from the grass", Tori stammered.

"Tori, that's not your line yet", Cat whispered. Tori couldn't remember what she was supposed to say next. Cat's hand was still on her shoulder. Tori quickly pulled herself away from the redhead and walked right off the stage. She stood in front of Mr. Sikowitz, who was drinking the milk from his coconut, watching the scene in fascination.

"Listen to me, tree", Tori said. "It is I who is ugly. Look at this long neck of mine! Isn't it ugly?"

"Um, I can't really see it, Mr. Giraffe", Cat said delicately. Tori raised her eyebrow in confusion. That line wasn't in the script. Then Tori realized that she was supposed to be on the stage. Everyone in the class laughed as she ran back up and stood next to Cat once again. Thankfully, Cat didn't put her hand back on Tori's shoulder.

"Can you see it now?" Tori asked, trying to get back into character.

"See what?" Cat questioned.

Beck smacked his forehead in defeat as he watched his fellow group mates. The scene had just started and he wanted it to be over already. More than anything though, he just wanted to get the skirt off.

* * *

><p>"Well, I've officially lost my mind", Beck said. The long black wig was getting in his face so he whipped it back. "My hair is still greasy. My eyes are still different sizes. There is still no smile on my face. But at least it looks as if the giraffe and the tree are getting along now."<p>

"So, you don't hate me anymore?" Cat, the tree, asked Tori, the giraffe.

"I never hated you", Tori replied nervously. She pulled her giraffe mask up onto her head. Her whole body was shaking and her heart felt like it was about to burst out of her chest. It was almost time for the kiss. "I-I hated myself. I thought I was the ugly one, not you. You're – you're beautiful."

"Really?" Cat's eyes started tearing up again. She took Tori's hands in her own. Cat's brown eyes gazed into Tori's. It felt as if they were the only two people in the world. Tori's heartbeat slowed down and for a moment she felt calm. A loud slurp from Mr. Sikowitz reminded Tori that they weren't in fact alone. Her heart started up again.

"You really think I'm beautiful?" Cat said in a soft voice that she had never used before.

"Y-yes", Tori replied.

Cat was slowly moving her face closer and closer. Her eyes were beginning to close. Soon Tori was able to feel the other girl's breath on her face. Immediately, Tori pulled herself away, leaving a very disappointed looking Cat behind.

"Hey you know what!" Tori exclaimed. "I think that crazy girl needs love more than either of us!" She strode up to a very confused Beck, grabbed his fake hair and smashed their lips together in a hasty kiss. They pulled apart a second later. Beck's eyes were wide open. Tori's were also, but only because she was truly alarmed. She had felt absolutely nothing from that kiss.

There was a scattered applause from the audience. Everyone looked puzzled. Mr. Sikowitz had his hands apart like he was going to clap, but wasn't sure if he should or not. Quickly Tori bowed and Beck waved. Mr. Sikowitz clapped and the whole audience broke out into a more enthusiastic applause. Beck hurriedly ripped the wig off of his head. He stepped off the stage and hobbled out of the classroom, pulling the skirt down.

"Great job guys", Mr. Sikowitz said, putting his coconut onto the floor. "Very unexpected ending. Andre and Robbie, you're up next. Get your group ready."

Tori turned around to see where Cat was, but the redhead in the broccoli suit was gone. Exhaling deeply, she pulled the giraffe mask back down to cover her face, so no one could see how troubled she was.

* * *

><p>"Nooooo!" Trina cried out as her father removed the car key from her keychain. "That's my last copy! What if there's an emergency and I need to drive my car?"<p>

"You should have thought of that before you disobeyed us by driving when we specifically told you not to", Mrs. Vega said angrily. "And Tori, I'm still very disappointed in you for going along with it."

"I'm sorry", Tori said sincerely. "I really am."

"Mhm", Mr. Vega replied. "Come on Trina let's get going, you've got some police station sweeping to do."

"Awww", Trina whined. "Why doesn't Tori have to do it? Why am I the only one who's punished?"

"Because you're the one who was being an irresponsible driver and hitting animals", Mrs. Vega answered. "Now let's go. I'll drive you two down to the station."

Trina moaned and followed her parents to the door. Mr. Vega opened it and there was Cat standing outside.

"Hi Tori's parents!" she waved. "Is Tori home?"

Tori froze in her spot on the couch.

"She's inside", answered Mr. Vega. "Go on in."

"Thanks!" Cat replied happily. She walked inside the house and her smile disappeared as soon as she saw Tori.

"Hi Cat", Tori said timidly. "What are you doing here?"

"You said I could come over anytime I wanted", Cat answered seriously.

"Oh yeah, totally", Tori said. "I just meant, why are you here now?"

"I wanted to talk to you." Cat sat down on the couch next to Tori and crossed her arms.

"About what?"

"How come you keep freaking out whenever I touch you?"

"I-I don't freak out when you touch me."

Cat briefly touched Tori's arm, making her jump.

"Then what was that?" Cat asked.

"Just uh, you gave me a static shock, that's all."

"All the time?"

"N-No."

"Well, you had no problem touching Beck today. You even kissed him."

"Yeah."

"You were supposed to kiss me."

Tori gulped.

"I'm sorry?"

"It's not like it was a big deal or anything." Cat leaned back onto the couch. "It was just a stage kiss you know."

"I know."

"And stage kisses don't mean anything."

"I know."

"You do stage kisses all the time."

"I know."

"So why couldn't you kiss me?"

"I … don't know."

"My breath doesn't smell bad or anything, does it?" Cat self-consciously picked her hand up to her mouth and breathed on it.

"No, that's not it", Tori answered.

"Then what is it?"

"I don't know."

"What's wrong Tori? You've been acting kind of weird lately."

"I have not been acting weird!" Tori protested loudly. "Why does everyone keep saying that?"

Cat shrugged.

"I thought we were friends", she said sadly. "Friends don't freak out and act weird when they touch each other."

"I have not been freaking out! And I'm not acting weird!" Tori nearly shouted. "Here, look!" Without thinking, she pulled Cat's face towards her own and brought their lips together. Warmth suddenly spread throughout her body. The tingly feeling was back, as were all of the butterflies. Now this was what a kiss should feel like! Tori slightly parted her lips and to her surprise Cat didn't pull away. In fact, she was kissing back!

Cat put a hand on Tori's thigh and moved her body even closer. She placed her other hand on Tori's shoulder. Their lips moved in sync against each other. Tori moved one of her hands up to cup Cat's face. The redhead broke contact to breathe for a second, but immediately replaced her lips back onto Tori's. After what felt like an eternity, they pulled apart. Cat had a grin on her face a mile wide.

"Wow, that was intense", she said, giggling.

Tori's mouth was open wide in shock at what she had just done. She gasped and covered her mouth.

"I am SO sorry, Cat", she apologized quickly. "I didn't – I didn't mean to-"

"Don't apologize." Cat stood up and smiled. "I've gotta get home now and take my brother to the doctor. He's got a mole on his back that has to be removed. Well it's either a mole or dirt. Bye Tori!" She winked, then waved and skipped towards the door. Cat never seemed to stay for long these days.

Tori stared at the open door. She put her fingers up to her lips. Her heart was pounding. The butterflies were still fluttering around in her stomach. The tingling was still spreading throughout her body. That kiss with Beck for their scene didn't even make her bat her eyelashes. Well, one thing was for certain. If she wasn't attracted to Cat before, she definitely couldn't deny that she was now. With a groan, Tori flopped back onto the couch and covered her face with a pillow. Why did life have to be so confusing?


	10. In The Closet

**Chapter Ten**

**In The Closet**

Beck let the phone ring for a few seconds before hanging up with a frown. He grabbed a book from his locker and then once again tried to make his phone call. There was still no response.

"Hey man, what's up?" Andre walked up to Beck.

"Nothing. I've been trying to call Jade but she's not picking up her phone", Beck replied.

Andre glanced at the clock in the hallway.

"It's nine in the morning on a Friday and she doesn't have to be in school", he said. "Wouldn't Jade be sleeping?"

"Yeah, she probably is", Beck answered. "I just wanted to talk to her. What can I say? I miss the little lady."

"That's adorable, man", Andre said, trying to hold back a snicker. "So how did the little lady react when you told her about your scene yesterday and your kiss with the giraffe? Who just so happened to have Tori's face."

"Eh, she was fine with it", Beck replied with a nervous smile. "Probably because I didn't tell her."

"Wise move." Andre nodded slowly. "Well judging by the looks on your and Tori's faces, I'd say that kiss wasn't in the script."

"Actually it kind of was", Beck explained. "We had planned for the giraffe and the tree to kiss. I was supposed to be the tree but then Cat decided that she wanted to be the tree. So Tori should have actually kissed Cat. I don't know, I guess she really wanted to kiss me." Beck smirked.

"Aw man, really? What a missed opportunity", Andre said. "Seeing Tori and Cat kiss would have been … something, huh?"

"Hey, down boy." Beck patted Andre on the head. "I don't think that's something we'll ever see happen."

* * *

><p><em>"I can't believe I kissed Cat. Why did I kiss Cat?"<em> Tori's mind kept racing as she practically sped down the hallway and to her locker. She couldn't remember her combination for a good minute and had to play around with the lock. Finally she got it open and started taking out every single book that was in there. She couldn't remember which class she was getting ready for. Tori figured if she had all of her books with her, she wouldn't have to keep returning to her locker and risk the possibility of seeing Cat. She just couldn't handle seeing the redhead now. Not after … well … the thing that happened yesterday.

Tori's heavy math book was the last to come out. She struggled to close her locker and then looked over at the clock. There were five minutes before class started, whichever class that was. If she started walking now, she might remember where she was supposed to be going and hopefully wouldn't run into –

"Hey Tori!"

Tori jumped and the large pile of books fell out of her arms. Her heavy math book dropped right onto her foot. Clenching her teeth, Tori groaned in pain. Cat reached down to pick up the math book and flipped through it.

"Wow, so many numbers and letters all together in the same book", Cat noted in wonder. "Is your foot ok? Do you want me to take you to the nurse?"

"I'm fine", Tori managed to get out. She shook her foot back and forth but the throbbing pain didn't stop. Cat was watching her in concern. It took Tori every bit of willpower she had to look the redhead in the eye.

"Why were you holding all this stuff?" Cat asked, motioning towards all of the books on the floor.

"Just being prepared", Tori replied uneasily. "You know, for classes." She hesitantly kneeled down to start picking the books up. Cat grabbed a couple as well and handed them to Tori.

"What class are you going to?" the redhead asked. "I'll help you carry these over there."

"Uh, I … don't know", Tori answered. She furrowed her eyebrows trying to remember.

"Hee hee, you look so cute when you're confused!" Cat giggled.

"I – what?" Tori asked nervously.

"I said, you look really cute when you're confused", Cat repeated with a shy smile. Tori's cheeks flushed a bright shade of red, but before she could think of a response, Cat moved forward and kissed her gently. Every worry and nervous thought rushed out of Tori's mind and the only thing she could think of was the girl on the other end of her lips. Cat sure was a great kisser!

The sound of chuckling and a wolf whistle made Tori remember that they were standing in the middle of a very crowded hallway at school. She quickly pushed the other girl away.

"Cat!" Tori exclaimed in horror.

"What-y?" asked Cat innocently as she played with a strand of her hair.

"What was that?" Tori yelled.

"A kiss", answered Cat with a shrug.

"You just – I – we -!" Tori couldn't get the words out. Students in the hallway had stopped and were looking at the girls. Tori felt their eyes burning into her. Not caring that all her books were now on the floor, she ran to the nearest safe location – the janitor's closet.

Closing the door shut behind her, Tori slumped down onto the floor and covered her head with her hands. A minute later, the door opened again and Cat walked in, holding Tori's pile of books.

"You forgot these", Cat said softly, reaching her hand out to touch Tori's arm. Tori looked up and pulled her arm back. Her whole body was shaking.

"What's wrong?" Cat asked worriedly.

"You – you kissed me!" Tori replied heatedly.

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"Why not?" Cat frowned confusedly. "I thought we liked each other. You kissed me yesterday!"

"That was a stage kiss!" Tori protested.

"We weren't on stage, Tori. We were sitting on the couch in your living room and you kissed me. Doesn't that mean you like me?"

"I – I don't – do you like ME?" Tori asked incredulously.

"Yeah", Cat answered with a shrug.

"Oh." Tori's heart stopped. She didn't know what else to say.

"I can tell by the way you kissed me yesterday that you liked it", Cat said. "It was much more passionate than your stage kiss with Beck. You liked our kiss, didn't you Tori?"

"No", Tori lied.

"Yes you did", Cat said teasingly. "Trust me, I know the difference between a stage kiss and a real kiss and you kissed me for real yesterday. So how long have you liked me?"

"I don't!" Tori replied anxiously. "Cat, that kiss yesterday wasn't supposed to happen. It was a terrible mistake and I'm sorry."

"It didn't feel like a mistake."

"Well it was."

Cat's face fell.

"So you don't like me?"

"No." Tori closed her eyes as she saw the immense sadness appear on the redhead's face.

"Oh", Cat said, putting the books down on the floor. "Sorry I kissed you then." She opened the door and walked out of the janitor's closet without another word.

Part of Tori wanted to run after Cat but the other part never wanted to see Cat again. Tori touched her lips and closed her eyes. Everything was fine when those feelings for Cat were in her head. But now suddenly things were out in the open. And she had been right all along– Cat was having those feelings for her too. But that's all they were – just feelings.

Feelings that needed to disappear.

* * *

><p>"Hey dude, did you hear about those girls who were just kissing in the hallway?"<p>

"Yeah, I think they were probably rehearsing a scene or something."

Andre whipped his head around when he heard the conversation of two other boys as they walked by. Beck rolled his eyes and laughed.

"Relax man, it wasn't Tori and Cat. Do I need to hose you down?"

"Nah, I'm all right", Andre said confidently. "I'm just wondering why I miss all the excitement around here. First Jade and her scissor attack and now some kissing girls."

"We're at Hollywood Arts", Beck replied assuredly. "There will always be plenty of excitement going on."

"True", Andre agreed, nodding. "Oh, hey Little Red!"

Cat was quickly walking down the hallway, trying to stop tears from forming in her eyes. She had intended to hide from Andre and Beck, but they had both already noticed her. Beck was motioning for her to come closer. With a sad sigh, she went over to the boys.

"What's up?" Andre asked.

"Nothing", Cat answered despondently.

"You all right?" Beck asked.

"Yeah, I'm just worried about my brother. He let his pet snake loose in the house and now we can't find it." Cat silently prayed that the boys would believe her story.

"Oh …", Beck replied slowly. "Well, I hope you find it."

"Those snakes sure are … tricky", Andre added.

"Yeah …", Cat trailed off. "Kay kay, bye!"

"Oh, wait a second!" Beck called after Cat who had started walking away. "I was actually wondering if you could do me a favor. After school could you drop this stuff off at Jade's house? I'd do it but I have a family thing to go to." Beck reached into his book bag and pulled out some papers. "It's school work she missed so far this week", he explained.

"Sure, I'll bring it to Jade after school", Cat said in a monotone, taking the papers from Beck. "If she promises not to be violent when I show up."

"Don't worry I'll tell her to expect you", Beck promised. "You sure you're ok?"

"I'm fine!" Cat faked a laugh but couldn't hold it for long. She turned around and walked off, sniffling as the tears poured down her face. Beck and Andre stared after her in mystification.

"So, what sort of family thing do you have to do after school?" Andre asked, still watching Cat shuffle down the hallway.

"Oh, I made that up", Beck admitted. "Jade needs to see her friends. I don't think she's left her house since she got suspended."

"She's upset, huh?"

"She's either really sad or really mad. Sometimes it's hard to tell the difference."

"It might just be both", Andre suggested.

"I don't know", Beck answered. "I've spoken to her a couple of times and she's being really distant. Maybe a visit from her friends will cheer her up."

"Or make her even more upset."

"I've got to try something", Beck replied with a shrug. He reached into his book bag again and pulled out another small stack of papers. "Now I've got to find Tori and tell her to bring these to Jade after school."

"You are one persistent man", Andre said in awe.

"Yup", Beck agreed with a nod. "Now where's Tori?"

* * *

><p>"Here it is!"<p>

Beck happily slapped his essay down on Tori's desk.

"Two whole pages, all about the scientific method. I finished typing it up this morning actually. How's that for last minute?"

"Yeah, sure Beck", Tori replied distantly. She didn't even bother to look at the boy standing next to her desk.

"Where's yours?" he asked.

"Huh?"

"Where's yours?"

"My what?"

"Your science essay that's due today."

"Oh, it's here." Tori pulled her essay out of her folder. It was about three times as thick as Beck's paper. Beck stared at it in shock.

"I thought we had to write about one experiment, not every scientific law in the universe!"

"I just wrote what you told me to write", Tori replied with a small shrug.

"Well it may be short, but it's to the point", Beck said confidently. "So hey, I feel like I haven't seen you all day. Why didn't you come to lunch?"

"Huh?"

"Lunch. Why weren't you there?"

"Oh. I … had something else to do."

"How about eating?"

"I ate in the janitor's closet."

"You what? The closet? Why?" Beck looked concerned.

"Actually I spent the whole day in there", Tori answered nonchalantly. "I like the janitor's closet. I was thinking maybe I'll rent it from the janitor to use on weekends or something."

"You spent the whole day in the closet?" Beck asked in disbelief. Tori inwardly squirmed at his choice of words.

"It's not a big deal. I didn't miss much", Tori explained. "I had to come to science though, to hand in the essay. Otherwise I would have stayed in the closet. The janitor's closet, I mean. Haven't you ever wanted to spend the day in there?"

"Uh, not really", Beck admitted. "But that's Jade's place to go when she needs to cool off. Looks like you two have something in common."

"Yeah, guess so", Tori replied softly.

"It's weird, Cat wasn't at lunch either", Beck said. At hearing the redhead's name, Tori nearly jumped out of her seat.

"She – she wasn't?" Tori asked.

"No. We figured she was with you. Was she in the closet with you?"

"No", Tori barely whispered as she slid down in her seat. She wished Beck would stop talking about her being in the closet. And Cat.

"Do you think you can do me a favor after school?" Beck asked. Tori sighed in relief at the change of subject.

"Yeah, sure."

"Bring this school work over to Jade's house. I'd do it, but I have an important family thing to go to." Beck handed Tori a stack of papers. She took it reluctantly.

"Her – house?" Tori asked. "Like where she actually lives?"

"That's what a house is meant for", Beck answered in amusement. "Don't worry, she won't hurt you. Her dad got rid of all the scissors."

"Ok", Tori agreed reluctantly.

"Thanks Tor, this is a big help. You can drop the stuff off, and then maybe afterwards you and Jade can hang out a little bit, huh? Do some bonding. Maybe play some checkers? Give each other makeovers? Whatever girls do when they're together."

"You're kidding right?" Tori asked in amazement. "This is Jade we're talking about. The girl who pushed me off a balcony!"

"There was a mat underneath", Beck said in protest. "Don't let Jade's tough exterior fool you. She may tell you that she hates you, call you names, and threaten to chop your hair off, but really she considers you two to be good friends!"

"You don't have to lie Beck, I already said I'd do it."

"Thanks Tori. You rock." He lightly punched her shoulder as the science teacher walked in the classroom. Tori pulled out her notebook and began writing as Beck returned to his own seat.

Tori groaned at the thought of having to see Jade after school. The last time she saw the girl had been when she was torturing that poor kid who was accused of killing Mr. Snickerdoodle. Tori remembered feeling angry at Jade but couldn't recall why. It had something to do with Cat. Tori's stomach did a flip-flop thinking about the redheaded girl. They had gone from good friends, to awkward tingling sensations, to full on kissing twice in less than twenty-four hours.

Cat liked her. She actually told her that she liked her. Tori couldn't get that out of her mind. She was attracted to Cat sure; there was no denying that, especially after those kisses. But liking Cat? No way. Well, she liked her as a friend. But she didn't want to be in a romantic relationship with her or anything. Tori trembled at the thought.

Cat was pretty much her best friend. And in order to salvage that friendship, Tori knew she had to keep her distance from the redhead. For as long as it would take for the attraction to die away. Hopefully it wouldn't take long. But she couldn't spend every school day until then hiding away in the janitor's closet. She'd have to see Cat sometime. Maybe if Tori didn't go out of her way to talk to her, Cat would get the point. But that would hurt Cat. Something Tori had been desperately trying to avoid doing for some time now.

The teacher started talking, but Tori didn't bother to concentrate. She was glad it was Friday. She'd run to the bus stop to meet Trina after school without stopping at her locker. She'd drop the schoolwork off at Jade's house and come straight home. Then she'd have the whole weekend free to get over her feelings, and hopefully Cat wouldn't try to contact her. Hopefully.

Meanwhile, over at his desk, Beck was smiling as he copied the notes from the board.

"_Good", _he thought to himself. _"Cat and Tori will hang out together with Jade at her house after school and hopefully cheer her up. Hopefully."_

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: Huh, this chapter's pretty short compared to the rest. Sorry about that! I'm putting in an author's note to make up for it. I plan out what's going to happen ahead of time so this was everything plot-wise that needed to happen in this chapter. Next chapter – Jade's house! Will it be fun? Will it be awkward? Will it be dangerous? Probably. Everyone cover your hair and I'll be back next week! Same place same time! <strong>


	11. Jade In The Middle

**Chapter Eleven**

**Jade In The Middle**

Tori silently sipped her tea and swung her legs back and forth as she looked around Jade's living room. Jade was sitting on the opposite couch, filing her nails and glaring at the girl across from her. Tori focused her attention on the furniture and the picture frames on the walls. The largest frame was over the fireplace, containing a black and white picture of an old woman with a thick unibrow and a frown.

Tori cleared her throat.

"That's a nice picture", she said uncomfortably, pointing at the woman.

Jade stopped filing her nails to see what Tori was showing her.

"That's my great-aunt Ethel."

"She's really … pretty", Tori said with a half-smile.

"She's dead", Jade replied in a monotone.

"Oh." Tori took another sip of tea.

"Look, Vega", Jade started, putting the nail file down on the coffee table. "I know Beck sent you over here for something, so why don't you just get to the point so you can leave?"

"What about the tea your mom made us?" Tori asked, holding up her mug.

"Finish it and talk."

"Well Beck just wanted me to give you these", Tori explained. She put the mug down on the table and took the schoolwork out of her bag. "And also Sikowitz wants you to perform a monologue when you come back to make up for the scene assignment you missed."

"I know, I spoke to Sikowitz already", Jade replied. "Is that all?"

"Pretty much."

"Ok thanks. Bye!" Jade stood up to show Tori to the door.

"You're kicking me out?" Tori asked in fake offense.

"Yeah", Jade answered simply. "I want to go back to sleep."

"It's almost four in the afternoon."

"Exactly, so the quicker you leave, the more sleep I can get."

"Is that all you've been doing?" Tori asked in surprise. "Sleeping?"

"Yup. And it feels great to sleep all day. Being suspended is actually pretty relaxing."

"It's supposed to be a punishment", Tori said. "Isn't it?"

"Eh." Jade shrugged. "Oh, so how's that kid who killed the cat? Do you see him around school?"

"He's still very bald", Tori answered. "And every time he sees me or Cat he screams and runs in the opposite direction." Tori's heart started thumping when she said Cat's name.

"Good, he deserves it." Jade nodded approvingly. "He wouldn't have had a problem if he had just admitted what he did in the first place. You're welcome by the way."

"I'm welcome? What am I thanking you for?"

"For solving yours and Cat's mystery."

Tori's fist began to clench.

"You know, I could have gotten him to admit what he did without all the violence."

"Well the violence got us our answer quicker, didn't it?"

"Don't you feel bad at all?" Tori asked, frowning.

"Why would I?"

"Because he didn't … I mean …", Tori promptly cut herself off, realizing what she was about to admit.

"He didn't what?" Jade stared at Tori, waiting for a response.

"Nothing", Tori replied nervously. Her legs started trembling.

"He didn't what?" Jade took a step towards Tori, who quickly took one step back. "Vega, don't make me hurt you in my own house."

"Nothing", Tori said, gulping. "I just feel bad."

"Why?"

"Because maybe he didn't have as much to do with killing Mr. Snickerdoodle as we think."

"He admitted to doing it, didn't he?" Jade responded.

"Well, he was under a lot of pressure at the time", Tori explained. "I don't know, maybe there's more to the story."

Jade eyed Tori suspiciously.

"You're hiding something, Vega, aren't you? And it's got something to do with that cat."

"C-Cat?" Tori stammered. "Cat and I didn't do anything."

Jade raised an eyebrow.

"I said the cat, not Cat. What are you talking about?"

"N-nothing", Tori felt her whole body begin to quiver. "The cat and I didn't do anything either."

"What did you and Cat do?" Jade asked, crossing her arms.

"Not Cat, the cat."

"Which cat?"

"Cat's cat."

"VEGA!"

"Trina killed Mr. Snickerdoodle!" Tori blurted out. Immediately she gasped and covered her mouth in shock.

Jade's face started twitching.

"What did you just say?" she growled.

For a second, Tori froze in place and time seemed to stop. Then instantly she sprinted to the front door. But Jade was faster and got there first. She grabbed Tori's arm and pulled her back into the living room.

"Say that again, Vega. What did your sister do?"

"Nothing", Tori squeaked fearfully.

"VEGA!"

"She killed Mr. Snickerdoodle!"

"And how do you know that?"

"…I was there when she did it."

"So you're telling me", Jade began to advance towards Tori. "That I got myself suspended for attacking some kid who didn't even do what you said he did? And that your sister did it? And you were there with her? So you knew this whole time! I've been stuck alone in this disgusting house doing absolutely nothing all week and it's all because of YOU?"

"You – you said you liked being suspended", Tori said quickly, looking around for a way to escape. "That it was relaxing."

"I HATE IT!" Jade screamed, making Tori wince. "I swear I'm going to hurt you! Why didn't you tell Cat that your stupid sister killed Mr. Snickerdoodle?"

"Well, I didn't know right away!" Tori protested in an unnaturally high voice. "I realized it after the funeral and everything."

"Why didn't you tell Cat?" Jade gritted her teeth.

"I- I didn't want to upset her!" Tori exclaimed. "She really loved Mr. Snickerdoodle!"

"Vega." Jade got right in Tori's face. "All you had to do was buy the girl an ice cream cone and she would have completely forgotten that the cat even existed."

"She really wanted to solve the mystery", Tori said sadly. "I just wanted to help her. I'm sorry."

"Oh you will be", Jade growled.

"Please don't tell Cat", Tori begged. "It's over now."

"Oh no, it's far from over, Vega", Jade said. "You better find a way to get me back into school."

"I can try to talk to Helen, I guess", Tori suggested. "But you did bad things with scissors. I don't think I could change her mind."

"No, you know what? Forget it. I only have a couple more days of suspension left. And I have a lot of work to make up."

Tori exhaled heavily and didn't respond.

"Wait there", Jade demanded firmly.

She left the living room and disappeared up the stairs. Tori debated whether or not to run out of the house. However her legs were frozen so she couldn't move at all. Jade returned about a minute later, holding a stack of textbooks and papers.

"Hold your arms out", Jade said. Tori did and Jade proceeded to drop the stack of books and papers into Tori's arms, making her almost lose her balance.

"So let's see. I've got a history paper due, five drawings of makeup designs, ten pages of math problems, two chapters of this book to read, and a monologue to write for Sikowitz. Looks like your weekend just filled up, Vega. Hope you didn't have any plans."

"Uh, nope, none", Tori admitted, putting the stuff down on the couch. "So does this mean you're not going to tell Cat?"

"No, this means that you're going to do all of my homework."

"Right", Tori agreed fearfully. "Maybe you could think about not telling Cat. Please?"

"So what made Cat think that that boy was the one who killed Mr. Snickerdoodle", Jade asked, ignoring Tori's request. "Did you put that idea in her head?"

"No, Cat saw him and thought he looked suspicious", Tori replied. "So I guess she made herself believe that he's the one who did it."

"And you were planning on keeping this a secret forever, weren't you?"

"I didn't really think it was a big deal."

"Obviously you did. Or else you wouldn't have gone to all this trouble to lie to Cat, would you?"

"I guess not."

"Though I should have known something was going on. You've been acting weird for a while now."

"I have not!" Tori declared.

"You decided to go along with Cat's little giraffe and tree idea for the scene. Beck told me with freaky costumes and everything. And it wasn't like Beck had a say in it. He couldn't go against two of you. Not once did you object. If that's not weird, I don't know what is."

"The script was good. The scene actually went well. Except towards the end."

"What was wrong with the end?" Jade asked.

"The kiss kind of came out of nowhere", Tori said. Once again she gasped and covered her mouth.

"The what?" Jade's face started to morph into anger.

"It was a stage kiss, I swear!" Tori insisted. "It was one, two seconds tops. Beck didn't even kiss me back."

"You kissed my boyfriend!" Jade screeched. "Again?"

"It wasn't in the script!" Tori exclaimed.

"So you wanted to kiss my boyfriend?"

"No, no, I didn't want to kiss anyone!" Tori wanted to smack herself across the face and staple her mouth shut.

"Come here Vega."

Jade beckoned Tori closer to her.

"Why?" Tori asked delicately.

"Get over here now."

Tori slowly moved over to Jade who was breathing deeply. She looked angrier than Tori had ever seen her. Her face was beet red and there was an evil glint in her eye. Without warning, Jade suddenly grabbed Tori by the collar and threw her onto the floor. Tori moaned in pain and Jade stood over her with a satisfied smile.

"Ok yeah, I definitely deserved that", Tori admitted with a groan.

"I suggest you leave now before you admit to anything else that will get you hurt." Jade stomped over to the front door and opened it.

"I'm going." Tori hastily picked up all of Jade's schoolwork and went over to the door. "Please don't be mad at Beck. He had no idea I was going to kiss him."

"OUT!" Jade demanded. She shoved Tori's back and pushed her out the door. Jade watched Tori scurry down the block, and then slammed her front door shut. She looked around the living room for her cell phone. It was stuffed between two cushions on the couch. She wasn't sure whether to call Beck first to yell at him, or Cat to tell her everything she just found out. Jade grabbed her phone and walked up the stairs to her room, locking the door behind her.

Jade's cell phone started ringing, and she looked down to see that it was Cat calling. Quickly, Jade answered.

"Hello Cat."

"Hi Jade!" Cat said happily. "I'm on my way to your house now. My dad's driving me over"

"That's fabulous", Jade replied sarcastically.

"Beck told you I was coming right?" Cat asked uncertainly.

"Beck told me a lot of things today, I didn't really listen."

"So can I come in?"

"Just ring the bell when you get here."

Jade heard the doorbell ring downstairs.

"You're here already?" Jade asked confusedly. "You said you were on your way."

"I wanted to make sure you wouldn't get mad first", Cat answered. "I've been in your backyard."

"Doing what?"

"Chasing butterflies."

Jade smacked her forehead and sighed.

"Come inside, Cat, let's get this over with."

Jade hung up the phone and walked out of her room, down the stairs back into the living room. Cat was standing by the couch with an extra big smile, holding a thick folder filled with papers.

"Why didn't Beck just send one of you over here today?" Jade asked.

"What do you mean? There's only one of me", Cat replied confusedly.

"Never mind", Jade gritted her teeth. "Just give me the stuff."

Cat happily handed the folder to Jade.

"And you need to find a model to do your makeup designs on", Cat explained. "You have to take pictures of them from all angles. Want to see mine?"

"Whatever."

Cat reached into her bag and pulled out a bunch of photographs.

"See these are the pictures, and here are my actual designs." Cat put the photos back into her bag and pulled out a handful of notepads.

"How many of those do you have?" Jade asked in astonishment.

"Seven", Cat answered. She flipped through one of them, frowned and went to put it back in her bag. Something caught Jade's eye and she grabbed the notepad away from Cat. Jade flipped to the last page and stared at the large black ink spot.

"Hey, wasn't this your sketch of Vega?"

Cat shifted uncomfortably and squeaked.

"Why did you ruin it?"

Cat covered her face with her hands, hoping Jade would stop asking questions.

"Are you mad at Tori?" Jade asked as gently as she could.

"Not really." Cat admitted from behind her hands.

"Well, I couldn't blame you if you were", Jade said. "I'm pretty ticked off at her myself right now. So what happened? She spray you with more hot cheese?"

"No."

"Don't make me guess."

"I don't think I should tell you", Cat said timidly.

"Trust me, Cat, I probably already know", Jade said assuringly. "If this is about that kiss, then yeah, that's why I'm mad at Vega too."

"Tori told you about the kiss?" Cat asked in shock. "When?"

"A little while ago. She was just here dropping off more homework."

"Tori was here?" Cat said nervously. "What did she say about the kiss?"

"She claims that it wasn't supposed to happen."

Cat's face fell.

"So she really does think that it was a mistake?"

"What are you so upset about it for?" Jade asked in confusion. "She did it to me not you."

"Tori kissed you too?" Cat asked. Her mouth dropped open in shock.

"What? No – what are you talking about?"

"What are you talking about?" Cat echoed back.

"I'm talking about how Vega kissed my boyfriend on stage in front of Sikowitz's class for your scene!" Jade exclaimed.

"Oh, that kiss", Cat said and looked away shyly.

"What kiss are you talking about?" Jade asked curiously. "She didn't kiss Andre or Robbie did she?"

Cat fretfully shook her head.

"Come on, tell me", Jade demanded.

"I really shouldn't tell you", Cat replied. "But it might have been me." She bit her lip as she spoke.

Jade's eyed widened.

"Vega kissed you?"

"I didn't say that!" Cat protested.

"Uh, you kinda did."

"Tori didn't kiss me. I kissed her. Well actually, that was the second time. The first time Tori did kiss me."

Jade stared, completely dumbfounded.

"Since when do you and Vega kiss each other?"

Cat backed up and sat down on the couch.

"When you kiss Beck, can you tell whether or not he's enjoying it?" the redhead asked.

"Don't answer my question with a question", Jade commanded. "You really kissed Vega?"

"I know she liked it", Cat said determinedly. "There's no way that was fake. You can't fake passion like that. I'd know!"

"Ok fine", Jade rolled her eyes. "Let's just have two separate conversations then."

"Jade I don't know what to do!" Cat cried out. "Can you help me?"

"I don't even know what's going on!"

A few tears fell down Cat's face.

"Neither do I."

"Well, why don't you just tell me what happened?" Jade suggested.

"She's just scared, that's probably it."

"Cat, just tell me what's going on!"

"I've gotta go talk to Tori." Cat suddenly stood up.

"Wait – Cat!" Jade called out but the other girl was out the door and gone. She stared at the door, her jaw felt like it had fallen to the floor.

"I've been home suspended from school for a few days and THIS is what I miss?" Jade said out loudly to herself. "What is going on with everyone?" She flopped down onto the couch and stared up at the portrait of her great-aunt Ethel.

"Do you know what's going on?" she asked the picture, knowing fully well she'd get no response. "Ok, I'm officially losing my mind here. I need to cut some paper or something. Where did Dad hide those scissors?"

* * *

><p>Cat sighed sadly as she hung up from her father. He had to do some errands so he couldn't drive her over to Tori's house. Her mom was with her brother at the doctor's getting his weekly checkup, so she was unavailable also. Cat looked around. She didn't know this part of Jade's neighborhood too well. She wondered if she should go back to Jade's house but she didn't want to answer any more uncomfortable questions.<p>

Cat typed in Tori's name on her pear phone. Her finger hovered over the call button but she could not bring herself to press it. Cat ran to the nearest stoop and sat down. She wondered exactly when things got so complicated. It shouldn't be. She liked Tori and she was positive Tori liked her back. So why was Tori trying to hard to avoid it? Was it because Cat was a girl? Cat didn't mind that Tori was a girl. It didn't make a difference in Cat's mind.

Tori was being so nice to her recently. Going along with her script idea, helping her solve Mr. Snickerdoodle's murder mystery, and just constantly being there. Cat shrugged. Just because someone acts nice towards you doesn't mean that they like you. Cat didn't like every person that was ever nice to her. She wondered if maybe she was making up feelings that weren't really there. But they had to be there. Cat was known for wearing her feelings on her sleeve and being open with them. If she felt something, it was definitely legitimate.

Cat flipped through her phone until she came to a picture of herself and Tori taken at school.

"_Tori's so pretty_", she thought. _"But Jade's pretty also. But I didn't want to kiss Jade, I wanted to kiss Tori. And ponies are really pretty but I don't want to kiss them either. I wish I had a pony. If a pony had wings I wonder if it could fly?"_

Cat contemplated this for a few minutes before her mind flew back to Tori Vega.

"_Tori's my best friend",_ Cat thought to herself sternly. _"And if I want to keep it that way then I need to pretend like we're back to normal and neither of those kisses ever happened. I never had any feelings for her. If Tori doesn't like me, then I don't like her."_

Wiping tears from her face with the sleeve of her shirt, Cat stood up and began her long walk back home.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: Eleven chapters in and we're nowhere near the end of this thing! Well hey, relationships aren't easy you know. Especially when people start denying their feelings. So it's a good thing Jade knows about it now (well, kind of). Otherwise we'd get absolutely nowhere! So let's see what Jade chooses to do with her newly acquired information. I'm sure excited to see what happens! <strong>

… **Oh right, that's my job isn't it?**

**On another note, thank you to all the reviewers! It's great that people are actually enjoying this! Until next time!**


	12. Denial River

**Chapter Twelve**

**Denial River**

"Tori, you're avoiding me."

"No I'm not."

"Yes you are. Come on, you're gonna have to talk to me sometime."

"I'm talking to you right now."

"Just tell me what's going on. You kept yourself locked in your room all weekend. My back is all full of knots! I needed you to give me a massage!"

"Trina, I was busy!"

"Too busy for your most favorite sister in the entire world?"

"Yes."

"What were you doing in your room all weekend?"

"Homework."

Trina got up from the kitchen table where she and Tori were sitting, and looked at her sister suspiciously. Tori stopped eating her cereal and stared back.

"You couldn't have had that much homework."

"It wasn't all mine", Tori admitted. "I was doing Jade a favor."

"Why would you do Jade a favor?" Trina asked, her eyebrows furrowed.

"Because she's doing me a favor", Tori explained. "I hope", she finished under her breath.

"Well I don't like it at all", Trina asserted. "I'm going to have a talk with Jade when she gets back to school this week. She can't make you do all of her homework for her when I need you here for more important reasons."

"No!" Tori ran over to her sister worriedly. "Don't talk to Jade. Ever again. You might make her mad."

"And why do you think I care?" Trina flipped her hair back. "I'm not afraid of Jade."

"Because … she knows things."

"What sort of things?"

"Bad things."

"Tori, stop being so dramatic and just tell me what's going on."

"Fine." Tori threw her arms up in defeat. "Jade may have found out that you were the one who really killed Mr. Snickerdoodle."

Trina's face fell and she grabbed her hair.

"What? How? Why?" Trina fretfully began pacing the living room. "Tori! She got suspended because she attacked that boy who she thought did what I really did! She's going to cut my hair off!"

"I thought you weren't afraid of Jade", Tori stated.

"That was before you told me that! I love my hair! It's beautiful and well conditioned." Trina ran her hands through her hair and smiled at it lovingly.

"She didn't say she was going to do anything to you", Tori said.

"Tori", Trina grabbed her sister's arm and pulled her close. "That girl is crazy and unpredictable. Why did you tell her I killed Mr. Snickerdoodle? I thought that whole thing was over and we were going to keep it our dirty little secret."

"I don't know, I kind of just said it", Tori admitted. "Trina, I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking."

"No you weren't!" Trina exclaimed. "It's a good thing she's suspended, or else I'd have to fake sick right now. When does Jade come back to school?"

"Two days I think", Tori guessed.

"I think I'll be coming down with the flu then", Trina said. "Now come on, we need to catch the bus soon."

"Dad said he could drive us in to school today", Tori replied. "He's upstairs getting ready."

"Tori, do you want to be seen arriving to school in a police car? I know I don't. No boy will ever want to talk to me if they know my father is a cop."

"No boy ever wants to talk to you anyway", Tori mumbled softly.

"What did you just say?"

"Nothing! Come on, we better catch that bus!"

* * *

><p>Cat stared right into Tori's pupils, but the other girl seemed to have made it her mission to completely avoid all eye contact. In fact, Cat found herself wondering for a moment if she even existed because Tori sure was acting like she didn't. She had been ignoring the redhead all morning.<p>

When asked to choose partners for a quick scene in Mr. Sikowitz's class, Tori raced over to Andre. However, he had already agreed to pair up with Robbie. Cat was the only other person in the room left unpaired. It took a lot of insisting, but Tori eventually got a reluctant Sikowitz to allow her to do a scene with Rex. Cat ended up being the third person in a group with Beck and another boy.

Andre, Beck and Robbie seemed completely oblivious to what was going on. When Cat took her seat at the lunch table, Tori sat on the other side, leaving a large gap between them. The boys filled in the space, all talking about some horror movie that was coming out next week. They continued to talk all throughout lunch. Cat and Tori ate in silence. Cat decided to randomly stare right at Tori, but there was never a reaction from the other girl at all.

Tori knew that Cat's eyes were burning into her own, but there was no way she would make eye contact. Her plan to ignore the redhead was making her feel incredibly guilty. She knew that ignoring Cat was hurting her. She knew how sensitive the other girl was. But Tori just couldn't bring herself to look at the only girl she had ever kissed. Twice.

"And I heard the special effects were amazing!" Andre exclaimed. The boys were still going on about that movie.

"We should all go see it together", Robbie suggested.

"No way Rob", said Rex. "I already made plans to see the movie with two girls from Northridge."

"Oh, well can't I come with you?" Robbie asked. "We can make it a double date."

"Hey! Back off and get your own girls!" Rex scolded.

"Who said you need a girl to go see this movie?" Andre asked.

"Dude, it's like wicked scary", Beck replied. "If you take a girl she'll hold onto you the entire time. What could be better?"

"See?" Robbie said, nodding.

"Oh, well I'm sure I can find someone to bring", Andre said, looking around. "There are plenty of girls at Hollywood Arts who would love a chance to go out with me."

"I guess I'll just go solo", Robbie sighed.

"I'll go to the movie with you Robbie", Cat suddenly spoke up.

All eyes immediately flew to the redhead, including the eyes of a very shocked Tori. Robbie started choking on his water, and Beck had to pound him on the back to get the coughing to stop. Robbie grabbed a napkin and wiped his face off.

"You'll really go with me?" he asked happily, a blush forming on his face.

"Yeah, why not?" Cat replied, shrugging.

Robbie looked like a kid at Christmas, with a smile on his face a mile wide. Tori glared at him. What was he so happy about? Cat probably just wanted to see the movie. It wasn't as if she liked him or anything. Cat liked Tori, she had said so herself. Tori frowned.

"Maybe before the movie we could go to a restaurant or something?" Robbie suggested shyly.

"Sure", Cat answered pleasantly, not looking up as she continued to eat her lunch.

"And then maybe after the movie we could get ice cream?"

Cat's eyes lit up at the sound of ice cream.

"Ice cream? Yay!"

Tori immediately looked up and growled. Now Robbie was pushing it. Cat didn't like him; she liked Tori. So what did Robbie think he was doing? Didn't he know that Cat liked her? Oh right, he didn't. Tori shook her head. What was she getting so worked up about? This was perfect for her plan. Cat would spend time with Robbie and get over her feelings for Tori. Then everything would be back to normal.

Cat smirked when she saw that Tori was clutching her water bottle in a death grip. What was Tori getting so angry about? It wasn't as if she and Cat liked each other or anything. And they definitely had never kissed! What a silly thought! Tori and Cat kissing was about as likely as Jade giving up her scissors. Cat laughed out loud and slapped her knee.

"Oh my gosh! Robbie you're so funny!" she said, laughing between words. "Stop it!"

"I … didn't say anything funny", Robbie replied in confusion.

"Maybe she's talking about your face", Rex said. "It's pretty funny looking to me."

"Don't be mean", Cat said to the puppet. "I like Robbie's face."

Tori squeezed her water bottle so hard that the top flew off and a stream of water squirted out.

"Huh, it's raining", Beck remarked as he touched a wet spot on his shirt and looked up into the sky.

"No, that was just Vega being passive aggressive", drawled a familiar voice.

Everyone looked over to where the voice came from. There stood Jade, with her hands on her hips and a scowl on her face.

"Hey!" Beck said happily, getting up to give his girlfriend a kiss. "What are you doing here?"

"I stopped by to drop off my five hundred word essay on why what I did to that boy was wrong", Jade answered. "And I figured I'd come at lunch time so I could see all of my favorite people."

"We're your favorite people?" Andre asked in disbelief.

"No", Jade answered simply.

"You had to write a five hundred word essay?" Robbie asked.

"Yup", Jade walked over to Tori and put her hand on her shoulder. "It came out all right. I definitely should do a better job on the rest of my homework though. So what did that water bottle do to you to make you so mad, Vega?"

"Huh? Oh, nothing", Tori answered nervously. "Just … uh … working out those finger muscles."

Jade rolled her eyes.

"So hey, we're all making plans to go to the movies next week to see that new horror flick. You in?" Beck asked.

"It's a horror movie. Duh", Jade replied.

"We're kind of making a date night out of it", Andre explained. "Me and Tori need to find people to go with, and Robbie's going with Cat."

Robbie smiled satisfactorily.

Jade felt Tori's body tense under her hand. She snickered.

"Robbie and Cat, huh?" Jade asked. "Something you guys want to tell me?"

"Yes", Cat answered. "Some fish can live longer than dogs or cats."

Everyone stared at the redhead in bewilderment. Everyone except Tori, who was wondering how she might possibly get Robbie to cancel his plans with Cat. Maybe she could trick Trina into going out with him that night instead. Whoa. Tori stopped herself mid-thought. Why was she getting so sneaky?

"Uh … gentlemen?" Sinjin walked up to the table. "I'm having a bit of a problem."

"You mean besides your hair?" Jade asked. Sinjin flinched and gulped. His hair was starting to grow back unevenly so it looked even more bizarre than before.

"No, it's a man-type problem", Sinjin answered anxiously.

"What kind of problem are you having?" Andre asked.

Sinjin bent down and whispered something into Andre's ear. Andre's eyes grew large.

"I'll be right back guys", he said, getting up.

"What is it?" Robbie asked. Andre bent down and whispered into his ear.

"Hey! I want to know too!" Rex complained. Robbie moved Rex's hair out of the way and whispered into his ear as well.

"Ouch!" Rex said. "We better go."

"What's going on?" Beck asked.

Robbie held Rex's mouth up to Beck's ear. Beck's eyes also grew large.

"Oh man, that is bad. I'll be right back, babe", Beck said. He kissed Jade on the cheek and all the boys walked off together.

Jade noticed the large gap between Cat and Tori. She also noticed that the two girls seemed to be completely ignoring each other. Finding this to be the perfect opportunity to snoop around and finally get some information, Jade took a seat between Cat and Tori. Neither of them acknowledged the fact that Jade had sat down.

"So how much have you two missed me?" Jade asked loudly.

Tori started fidgeting with her hands and Cat stared out into space uneasily.

"All right then", Jade replied, mostly to herself. "I guess no one's talking."

"You're talking", Cat remarked.

"Yeah I am", Jade agreed. "So why aren't you two? What's going on?"

"Nothing", Tori quickly answered. "Just eating lunch."

"Is there a reason you two are sitting in different time zones?" Jade asked.

"One time", Cat started suddenly. "My brother threatened to move to a different time zone. But he didn't."

"Fascinating", Jade replied, gritting her teeth. "Now why don't you tell me about this movie date with Robbie?"

From the corner of her eye Jade saw Tori's body twitch.

"It's not a date", Cat said simply. "Everyone's going."

"Oh, you're going too, Vega?" Jade asked with a frown. "Maybe I'll tell Beck never mind then."

"The movies may not be a date, but I think going out to eat with Robbie before and after qualifies as one", Tori said bitterly, without thinking.

"Robbie's my friend", Cat replied, talking to Jade specifically. "I go out with my friends all the time. It doesn't mean I like them or anything."

"It means you like them if you tell them you like them", Tori shot back, also towards Jade.

"I never told Robbie I liked him!" Cat insisted to Jade.

"And I guess you never kissed him either then, did you?" Tori growled. She finally looked Cat right in the eyes.

"No", Cat answered curtly, glaring back at the other girl. "I never kissed Robbie, and if I did, then it was the biggest mistake I ever made."

"It's not a mistake if you make it more than once!"

"Robbie kissed me first!" Cat exclaimed.

"He didn't mean to!"

"Then why did he do it?"

"He … doesn't know …"

Jade felt like she was watching an intense tennis match. She was beginning to get dizzy as her head moved back and forth, from Cat to Tori, then from Tori to Cat as they continued to argue. She had never seen Cat acting this seriously before. It was very bizarre.

"Maybe Robbie needs to think before he goes around kissing people without meaning to!" Cat said heatedly.

"Maybe the people Robbie kisses shouldn't take it so seriously!" Tori angrily replied.

"Uh, yeah, we're not really talking about Robbie here are we?" Jade guessed.

Cat and Tori ignored her and stared each other down. Jade watched the two of them in complete shock. Wow. She had seen this sort of behavior before. This was exactly how she and Beck had acted before they started going out. At first they refused to acknowledge that they had feelings for each other. But those feelings were too strong and soon enough Jade and Beck couldn't fight them anymore. Now two years later, they were dating and very happy.

Right now, neither Tori nor Cat looked very happy.

"Tori! Hey, I need to borrow five dollars." Trina strode over and plopped herself down at the table next to her sister.

Tori didn't answer. She and Cat were still looking at each other intensely. Neither of them blinked.

"Come on." Trina shook Tori's arm. "Festus is about to run out of tacos." Suddenly Trina realized that she was sitting next to Jade. She yelped and grabbed her hair.

"W-what are you doing here?" Trina asked frightfully. "You're supposed to be suspended. Tori, didn't you say she was still suspended?"

"Hey, you don't need to be afraid of me", Jade said amusedly. "See, no scissors." She held up her hands. "Besides, I don't have a reason to cut your hair off, do I?"

"No …", Trina replied slowly. "You don't?"

"No, I don't." Jade put on a big fake smile.

Trina nodded quickly in understanding.

"Well thanks", she said, standing up. "Really, my hair and I both thank you."

"Don't push it", Jade asserted.

"Right", Trina replied timidly. She glanced over at her sister and Cat. "Girls, have some manners. Don't you know it's rude to stare?"

Tori and Cat did not respond.

"They're not talking to anyone right now", Jade explained. "Though I think they might talk to Robbie."

"Ugh, Robbie", Trina said in disgust. "That guy creeps me out. I better go before he and the puppet show up."

"Yes, go. Now." Jade waved as Trina walked off. She looked back at Tori and Cat. They were still staring at each other. Jade couldn't believe it. She wondered if time had frozen but it clearly hadn't as everyone else outside was moving at a regular pace.

"Uh, ok, this is getting weird", Jade said awkwardly. "Actually no, it's been weird for a while now. I'm going to go find the boys and see what they're up to."

There was no response.

"Don't bite each other's heads off until we get back, ok?"

Still no response.

"Ok." Jade stood up and slung her bag over her shoulder. She looked back and forth from Tori to Cat once again before shaking her head and heading inside the school.

Cat sighed sadly. She looked as if she were about to burst into tears any second. Tori was still feeling a rush of anger, but the look on the redhead's face was reducing it. How was Cat able to do that to her so easily?

"Look Cat", Tori said quickly. "Robbie's sorry for what he did. I mean - I'm sorry. I'm so sorry for what I did to you. And for hurting your feelings."

"You didn't hurt my feelings", Cat replied. "Why would you think that?"

"I … rejected you", Tori said uncomfortably. "But I'm the one who started this whole thing by kissing you first. I'm sorry. I think maybe we're both just very confused about our feelings right now."

"I'm not confused", Cat answered. "What feelings? We never kissed."

"…Oh", Tori exhaled loudly. She stared Cat right in the eyes, trying to see exactly what was going on in the other girl's mind, and why she was acting this way now. Tori couldn't see anything but sadness. "So we're going to act like nothing happened?"

"Tori, nothing did happen", Cat replied. "I don't know what you're talking about."

It threw Tori off to see Cat acting so seriously. She couldn't tell whether or not she meant what she was saying. If Cat truly did believe that nothing happened. But something did happen. Twice! Tori knew it did, she wasn't crazy. Well … she wasn't crazy regarding this.

It was exactly what Tori had planned. For things to go back to the way they used to be. As if she never had feelings for Cat, as if she never got tingly feelings from touching her and as if they had never kissed. Cat was making it happen and erasing everything. She was doing exactly what Tori wanted.

So why was Tori feeling so miserable?

"You're right Cat", she said softly. "I'm wrong. Nothing happened."

"Yeah", Cat replied in an even lower voice.

"I hope you have a good time on your date with Robbie", Tori said as she stood up. She walked off without another word. Cat sniffed and tears fell down her face as she watched Tori's retreating figure.

"It's not a date …"

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: Hey all, quick programming note. It's that time of year! And I'm not talking about Christmas; I'm talking about finals. Yech. So that means I'll be uploading the next chapter in about two weeks after school is over and I'm on vacation. Then the weekly updates will return. All righty, thanks for reading and I will see you all in two weeks!<strong>


	13. Not Just A Dream

**Chapter Thirteen**

**Not Just A Dream**

"Cat and Tori are in love with each other!"

"Hnrghh … wha-?"

Jade felt around in the dark trailer for the nearest lamp. She found it and turned the light on. Beck sat up on the couch and groaned as he shielded his eyes.

"S'goin' on? What time is it?"

"It's almost four in the morning. Beck, did you hear what I said?"

"Four in the morning? What are you doing here?" Beck took his hands down for one second but the light was too bright and he buried his head into the pillow.

"I had to tell you. I know what's going on! Cat and Tori are in love with each other."

"Huh?" Beck picked his head up again, this time more awake. "Ok, I must be in Andre's dream or something."

Jade rolled her eyes and pinched her boyfriend's arm hard. He pulled it away with a frown.

"What was that for?" he asked.

"To show you that you're not dreaming", Jade explained impatiently. "You're awake and this is real. Cat and Vega like each other."

"That's how friends work, Jade", Beck replied. "They're supposed to like each other."

"Friends aren't supposed to kiss each other though, are they?"

Beck paused.

"Not typically."

"See!" Jade exclaimed. "I was trying to sleep but I just couldn't get the thoughts out of my head. Everything makes sense now. The picture of Vega that Cat drew in her notepad. Vega going along with every single one of Cat's crazy ideas. No wonder Vega's been acting so weird! Actually they've both been acting weird; Cat more than usual."

"Cat drew a picture of Tori in her notepad?" Beck asked slowly.

"Beck, keep up, will you?" Jade gritted her teeth. "Cat told me she kissed Tori. Twice!"

"Twice?" Beck repeated.

"Yes, and I didn't even tell you the craziest part!" Jade took a deep breath before continuing. "That boy I attacked isn't the one who really killed Mr. Snickerdoodle. It was Vega's stupid sister!"

"Trina killed Mr. Snickerdoodle?" Beck asked in disbelief. "How do you know?"

"Vega told me, accidently. Yeah, she knew this whole time and didn't say anything. She just let Cat believe the boy killed the cat and she faked this whole murder mystery. And it all led up to me getting suspended for almost a week! And then Vega had the nerve to beg me not to say anything to Cat. She didn't want to-"

"Didn't want to upset Cat", Beck finished with a nod. "Yeah, I've heard that one a few times recently."

"And now they're fighting", Jade continued. "They got into a whole heated argument today about kissing Robbie."

"Robbie?" Beck asked.

"Only it wasn't about Robbie", Jade corrected. "They were really fighting about kissing each other. I think Cat was trying to make Tori jealous by going out with Robbie. And it was working. Beck, you should have seen Tori's face. She was pretty bummed."

"You know, they haven't really been talking to each other much lately", Beck said. "I guess I know why now. So they really like each other?"

"It's pretty obvious." Jade frowned.

"I can't believe I had no idea what was going on", Beck mused. "Though now that I think about it, yeah. They've been skipping lunch and avoiding each other. And Tori kissed me instead of Cat for that scene in Sikowitz's class. And she's been hugging everyone at school except Cat for the past week. Wow."

"Wow doesn't even begin to cover it", Jade replied.

"So are you going to talk to both of them?" Beck asked.

"Why would I do that?"

"Because I thought you were working on building long lasting friendships."

"Uh yeah, well Cat and Tori being in love with each other wasn't part of the plan."

"Who said they were in love with each other? Maybe this is just a weird, crush type thing."

"People with weird, crush type things don't fight with each other the way Cat and Tori were today. They were acting more like you and I before we started dating. Complete avoidance of any feelings towards each other."

"Then they really do need some help", Beck responded. "If they're being as stubborn as we were."

"No one can be as stubborn as we were", Jade said, sitting down on the couch next to her boyfriend. "Geez, we could barely even look at each other for a while, remember?"

"I do." Beck wrapped his arms around Jade and smiled. "But look at us now."

Jade quickly pecked Beck on the lips. Then she shuddered.

"What's wrong?" Beck asked.

"I just pictured Cat and Tori acting like this with each other. It's really weirding me out."

"Well, what you're saying about them liking each other makes sense", Beck said. "Especially with the way they've been acting. But I don't know. Maybe we're totally off base and nothing's going on at all. Maybe they're just in some sort of fight."

"They kissed twice, Beck."

"Maybe it was an accident?"

"Twice?"

Beck shrugged.

"Dude, you need to find out what's really going on between them in school today. It's my last day of suspension, I'll be back tomorrow."

"And how do you expect me to find out what's going on?"

"Talk to them! Talk to Cat, she usually blurts out stuff without meaning to."

"So you won't talk to them but you expect me to?"

"I just want to see whether or not I'm right about them", Jade answered. "I don't want to be involved in this any other way."

"Well, I don't know if I'll even be going to school today", Beck said.

"And why not?" Jade snapped.

"Because it's four in the morning and I'm not sleeping." Beck pointed at the nearby digital clock.

"Then get to sleep!" Jade commanded. "I'm leaving. Good night." She kissed Beck on the cheek and stood up to leave.

"I really think you should talk to Cat and Tori", Beck said. "This is kind of a … girls only thing."

"Yeah, and that's why I don't want any part of it. Now go to sleep." Jade turned off the light and stumbled over to the door of the trailer to leave.

Beck sat awake on the couch, staring out into the darkness.

"Andre. Hey man, if this is your dream, send me a sign or something", Beck said hesitantly.

There was only silence.

"No? All right. I guess I'll see what goes on in school today then." Beck laid down on the couch and squeezed his eyes shut.

* * *

><p><em>"Cat?"<em>

_ Tori glanced down the long school hallway but it was completely empty. The lights were flickering on and off and rain could be heard pouring outside. Tori slowly made her way past the lockers._

_ "Cat, where are you?" Tori was whispering as loud as she could. She didn't know why, but it felt as if she wasn't supposed to be in school at that moment._

_ The sound of footsteps from behind her made Tori spin around in a circle._

_ "Who's there?"_

_ Robbie stepped out of what seemed to be just air. He was holding Rex, and was staring at Tori as if he had never seen her before._

_ "Robbie, where's Cat?" _

_ "Why are you looking for Cat?" Robbie asked suspiciously. _

_ "I need to see her!" Tori exclaimed._

_ "Why?" questioned Rex._

_ "Because she's my friend!"_

_ "Huh", Robbie said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "Well your friend is going to be with me soon."_

_ "What do you mean?" Tori's heart sank. _

_ "Just what I said. Cat and I are going to be together."_

_ "But-but you can't be!" Tori stammered. "Cat likes me! She said so herself!"_

_ "Well, do you like Cat?" Robbie asked. "Do you want to be with her?"_

_ "I-I don't … I mean … no!" Tori shook her head forcefully. "I can't!"_

_ Robbie shrugged._

_ "Well I like Cat, and I want to be with her", he said. "Cat deserves to be happy. With someone who actually likes her."_

_ "That's right", Rex added. "I also like Cat. The red hair kind of excites me."_

_ "But you're a puppet!" Tori blurted out._

_ "And you're a girl, but I'm not judging you, am I?" Rex asked._

_ "I-I …", Tori didn't know what to say._

_ "You can't have it both ways", Robbie said. "She likes you and you don't like her. You can't expect her to not like anyone else. Especially since you're not interested. She's got to move on."_

_ Tori looked from Robbie to Rex, waiting for one of them to admit they were joking, or to explain what was really going on. But the two of them just stood there, staring back at her. _

_ "Hey y'all! Am I late to the party?" Andre popped up from the floor. "Where's Cat? I suddenly have all of these feelings going on inside of me. I think I like her!"_

_ "Us too!" Robbie replied excitedly._

_ "It's the red hair, right?" Rex asked. _

_ "Definitely!" Andre agreed._

_ Tori's mouth fell open as she felt herself slowly moving backwards. _

_ "Hey guys!" Beck stepped out of a locker with Jade at his side. "We're looking for Cat. She's totally gorgeous. I think I really like her!"_

_ "I like her more!" Jade snapped. _

_ "No way!" Beck argued. "Come on. I liked her first!"_

_ Tori wanted so badly to say something, but her heart was pounding and she was still slowly moving backwards away from everything. Sweat was pouring down her face. She was having trouble breathing, and her vision started getting cloudy._

_ "Sorry all." Tori heard Sinjin's voice but she couldn't see him. "I like Cat the most. I made a chewed food collection of all of her favorites, and I'm going to give it to her for her birthday."_

_ "Um, eww that's disgusting." It was Trina. "And I like Cat way more than any of you losers."_

_ "Hello students!" Mr. Sikowitz came out of a nearby classroom. "Where is Ms. Cat Valentine? I had a strange sudden urge to proclaim my love and devotion to her."_

_ "Whoa, you creep!" Jade said unpleasantly._

_ "Find someone your own age!" Trina demanded._

_ "Yeah, back off man!" Andre said._

_ "Why don't you back off?" Beck retorted._

_ The whole group of them started arguing with each other. Tori could no longer see anything, but she heard them all yelling at each other. The voices started fading as she got further and further away. Suddenly there was a flash of light and Tori could see again. She was in an empty room with no doors or windows. Standing next to her was a familiar redhead._

_ "Cat!" Tori raced over to the other girl and threw her arms around her. _

_ "Um, what are you doing?" Cat gently pushed Tori away._

_ "I-I'm just so happy to see you!" Tori exhaled sharply. "Everyone's … they're all acting weird."_

_ "Where is everyone?" Cat asked._

_ "I don't know. I was just with them and then they disappeared. Or well, actually I think I disappeared."_

_ "I need to go find them", Cat said determinedly as she walked around the room, looking for a way out._

_ "I'll come with you!" Tori offered._

_ "No thanks. I don't want you to." Cat glared at Tori._

_ "But we're friends, aren't we?"_

_ "Just friends?" Cat asked as she raised an eyebrow._

_ "Yeah", Tori replied hurriedly. "Remember when we were just friends with none of this weird stuff going on?"_

_ "You honestly think we can go back to the way things used to be?" Cat asked as she rolled her eyes. "I don't think so, Tori. You made it pretty clear that you don't like me and you don't want to be with me. That's fine. There's a whole hallway full of people out there who want to be with me."_

_ "Cat wait!" Tori grabbed the redhead's arm. "Why can't we just stay as friends? We were great as friends! Cat, you're … you're my best friend!"_

_ "You know we'll always be friends, Tori. That'll never change", Cat replied dejectedly. She took Tori's arm off of her own. "I just thought maybe we could try to be something more. I thought we both wanted that when you kissed me. But I was wrong."_

_ "Cat-", Tori started._

_ "Was I wrong?" Cat asked, looking Tori right in the eyes. "Tell me now. Do you or do you not have feelings for me?"_

_ "Cat, I just … I can't!" Tori reached out for the redhead's arm again, but Cat started walking in the opposite direction. "Cat wait! Please! Cat!"_

_ Cat was gone._

_ "Cat!" Tori shouted as she sank down to the floor. "Cat!"_

_ "Tori!"_

_ "Cat?" Tori quickly jumped up and looked around._

_ "Tori! Wake up!"_

* * *

><p>Tori's eyes flew open. She sat up in bed, breathing heavily. There was an arm on her shoulder.<p>

"Cat, you came back!" Tori said in relief between breaths.

"No, I think you're having that nightmare about the cat again", Trina explained. She wiped sweat from her sister's forehead with her hand. "Eww. I heard you screaming from down the hall." Trina wiped her wet hand on Tori's bed sheet.

"I was screaming?" Tori asked.

"Uh, yeah, loudly", Trina replied. "You woke me up. It's only four fifteen. I've got a few more hours of beauty sleep left before it's time to wake up for school."

"Sorry I woke you", Tori said restlessly. "I didn't mean to." She reached around for the hair scrunchie on the bedside table and tied her hair up in a ponytail.

"Did it scratch your face again?" Trina asked.

"What?"

"The cat. Did it hurt you?" Trina questioned.

"No." Tori felt her eyes beginning to water. She was glad the room was dark so Trina couldn't see her.

"That's weird", Trina stated. "Usually in the nightmare, the cat hurts you."

"No, not this time", Tori responded as a single tear fell down her cheek. "I hurt it."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: Hey look, I'm back! Merry belated Christmas and Happy almost New Year! Thankfully I'll be on vacation for quite a while! Which means I'll be back to my weekly updates. I may even upload more than one chapter a week if the creativity is flowing and I can write a lot. Also I'm going to start writing longer chapters again cause this one's also pretty short. Besides that, I just want to give a big thank you to all of my past and future reviewers and to everyone in general who is enjoying this story. Until next time!<strong>


	14. Props and Realizations

**Chapter Fourteen**

**Props and Realizations **

All of the students watched as Mr. Sikowitz slowly pulled himself through the window and into the classroom. This was his usual method of entering the room, so no one thought it was strange anymore. Mr. Sikowitz closed the window behind him and smiled at the class. Then he snapped his fingers and opened the window back up. He climbed out and returned back through the window a few seconds later holding a large cardboard box. Mr. Sikowitz dropped the large box on the floor and it rattled and squeaked. The students stared at the box in confusion.

"Well, isn't anyone going to ask me what this is?" Mr. Sikowitz asked gleefully.

"What is it?" Andre asked.

"What's what?" Mr. Sikowitz replied.

"The big box on the floor in front of you, man!" Rex exclaimed. Robbie gasped and covered the puppet's mouth with his hand. He mouthed an apology.

"Oh this box", Mr. Sikowitz looked down at it. "Yes, mother was doing some cleaning yesterday and she wanted me to get rid of all this stuff. It's mostly my old childhood toys and playthings. And she wanted me to get rid of it all! Can you believe that?"

Beck stuck his hand in the box and pulled out a baby doll. He looked at Mr. Sikowitz suspiciously.

"That's … just … I don't know how that thing got in there." Mr. Sikowitz grabbed the doll back and gave it a quick kiss on the head before dropping it into the box. "Anyway. Props!" He said that loudly, making a couple of students jump. "You all are going to take one thing out of this box and use it as a prop in a scene that you make up. Except you can't use the prop for its intended purpose. Make up some other creative use. Everyone partner up and I'll hand out the props!"

Beck tapped Andre on the shoulder and they nodded at each other. Tori had her gaze set on Cat. From the corner of her eye, she could see Robbie going over to approach the redhead. Shaking her head furiously, Tori stood up and quickly strode over to Cat first.

"Hey Cat, want to be partners?" Tori asked with a small smile.

Cat was looking at Tori in surprise. She couldn't believe the other girl was actually talking to her. Especially after their intense argument the previous day. Cat found herself nodding without meaning to. Robbie frowned as he saw the two girls partner up and shrugged his shoulders as he went to find someone else to work with.

Meanwhile across the room, Beck was watching Cat and Tori, looking for any sign of what was going on between them.

"Those two haven't been talking much lately, have they?" he asked Andre.

"Uh, I don't know. I haven't noticed", Andre admitted. "Why? Are they fighting or something?"

"I don't know", Beck answered. "Doesn't look like they are."

Mr. Sikowitz walked over to the boys and handed them a large slinky.

"Have fun!" he said, moving over to the next group.

Tori desperately wanted to say something to Cat, but she wasn't sure what. She wanted to apologize, but she didn't know what for. The silence was making her nervous, but she had no idea how to fill it. Thankfully, Cat spoke up first.

"I'm not going out with Robbie next week."

Tori's eyes opened wide and she felt her heart stop beating.

"You – you're not?"

"No", Cat answered. "I have to go somewhere with my family next weekend so I can't come to the movies with everyone."

"Oh."

"Yeah." Cat looked down shyly at the ground.

"I don't think I'm going to go either. Everyone will be all paired up and I'll just stick out", Tori said.

"Robbie won't have a date either", Cat replied. "Go with him."

"I'd rather go with you", Tori said without thinking, then quickly corrected herself. "I mean, I'd rather go with you and everyone else together. The whole gang."

"Yeah", Cat agreed. "I guess I'll make plans with Robbie for another day. I really wanted that ice cream though. And maybe we can all do something together another time."

"Totally." Tori glared at Robbie. He was sitting and talking with another boy in their class.

Tori liked Robbie as a friend; he was a pretty decent guy. He was usually patient with Cat, and very kind. Besides Rex constantly hurling insults, Robbie would be a great boyfriend. But Tori was patient with Cat also. And kind. She knew what made Cat laugh, as well as what made her sad, or angry. Robbie would try his hardest to make Cat happy. Cat deserved that more than anything. But Tori wanted to be the one to do it. She would also try her hardest to make Cat happy. Tori looked over at Cat and grinned at the other girl's absentminded smile. She wouldn't at all mind seeing that face every day …

And feeling like a moving train had just slammed into her, Tori gasped as she suddenly made a realization.

She did have true romantic feelings for Cat.

Tori sat completely frozen with her mouth wide open as Mr. Sikowitz handed her a small toy truck. She took it, and looked back at Cat, who was watching her worriedly.

"Are you ok, Tori?" the redhead asked.

"I'm … yeah", Tori replied distractedly. Her mind was all over the place, jumping from one worried thought to the next.

"_I like Cat. I mean, I really like Cat! Cat's a girl! I like a girl! Oh god, what am I going to tell my parents? Trina is going to kill me! Now Jade will have even more reasons to make fun of me! All of my friends will look at me differently. Will they even still want to be my friends? What about Cat? Does she still like me? Is it too late? Has she moved on already? I have to do something before it's too late!"_

"We should do something somewhere sometime", Tori quickly said out loud. "Just you and me."

Cat's eyes widened.

"Really?" she asked in anticipation.

Tori's head was telling her to shout out no. That she had made a mistake, and said the wrong thing. But then she remembered her nightmare from that morning. As dream-Robbie had said, Cat was going to move on eventually. She wasn't going to wait around forever. Tori had to do something now before it was too late.

"Yes, really", Tori replied determinedly, glancing over at Robbie.

"Why?" Cat asked. She crossed her arms and pretended to look bitter, using Jade as her inspiration.

"Because … I want to give this a try."

"Give what a try?"

"…Us."

Beck saw Cat and Tori in a very deep conversation, which he assumed had absolutely nothing to do with the toy truck prop that Tori was holding. He ripped a sheet of paper out of his notebook, and slowly walked over to the garbage can to throw it out. On the walk back to his chair he stopped by where the girls were sitting and strained his ears to hear what they were saying over the noise of the loud classroom.

"So you're asking me out?" Cat questioned.

"…Yes."

"On a date?"

"…Yes."

"Can we get ice cream?"

"Of course. What kind of date would it be if we didn't?"

"Yay!" Cat clapped her hands together happily and hopped up and down on her seat.

"So how about we go after school?" Tori asked

"Hold on. I never said yes, Tori!" Cat replied with a giggle. "I have to think about it first. Ask me again later."

"Oh … ok." Tori frowned.

Beck stood there completely stunned for a few seconds as he listened in on Cat and Tori's conversation. Shaking his head to snap out of it, he ran back to his seat and pulled out his phone. He typed as quickly as he could and sent a short text to Jade.

"_You were right!"_

* * *

><p>Trina moaned in pain as Cat and Tori carefully helped her through the front door. She had her arms wrapped around her sister's neck, while Cat was supporting her back. Tori tried to gently lay Trina down on the couch. Cat moved off most of the pillows to make room. Once she was comfortable on the couch, Trina groaned and curled herself up into a ball.<p>

"Tori!" she whined. "My everything hurts."

"Well, maybe next time you'll think twice before picking a fight with an old lady on the bus", Tori responded irritatedly.

"She started it!" Trina protested.

"Actually, you started it", Cat corrected.

"Well it's your fault she got so violent!" Trina pointed a trembling but accusing finger at the redhead.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You're the only who told the old lady that she should defend herself!" Trina exclaimed.

"Well, people take advantage of the elderly too much", Cat replied seriously. "They should stick up for themselves."

"She jumped on my back and whacked me with her cane!"

Tori quickly covered her mouth to hide a snicker.

"You should have gotten up and given her your seat when she asked", Cat said.

"She could have stood and held on to the pole. The bus ride wasn't that bumpy", Trina responded.

"Trina, the seat you were on was meant for elderly people", Tori explained, as she went into the kitchen to get an ice pack. "You were supposed to get up."

"Oh sure, take Cat's side!" Trina groaned and rolled her eyes. "As usual."

Cat giggled and turned a bright shade of red. Tori returned from the kitchen and handed her sister the ice pack.

"I never want to take the bus again!" Trina said as she hesitantly sat up and held the ice under her back. "I want my car!" she complained. "Girls like me aren't meant to take public transportation."

"Trina, go upstairs and soak in the bathtub", Tori commanded. "And stay in there with hot water for a long time."

"Will you carry me up the stairs?" Trina asked, putting on her best version of puppy dog eyes.

Tori sighed impatiently and helped her sister stand up from the couch. Trina grabbed onto Tori's shoulders and attempted to jump into her arms. Tori pulled away and gently pushed Trina up the stairs, one by one. When they were at the top, Tori let go and walked back down to the living room.

"Tori! What about the rest of the way to the bathroom?" Trina whined.

"Just walk!"

Trina's loud moans and complaints faded as she made her way along the hallway to the bathroom. Tori sat down on the couch next to Cat. She debated in her mind how to ask the question that had been bothering her all day.

"So uh, about what we discussed in Sikowitz's class today", Tori started slowly. "Did you … think about it?"

"Did I think about the toy truck?" Cat asked in confusion.

"Uh, no", Tori replied. "I mean the … date. You – you said to ask you again later. Well … it's later and I'm asking you again."

"Oh." Cat looked down at the floor, and then broke out into a smile. "One time, my brother was inappropriate in class so the teacher told him to sit in the corner and think about what he did. He sat in the corner but he didn't think about it."

"Uh … cool", Tori shifted on the couch uncomfortably. "Did you hear what I said? The date?"

"Yeah, sorry", Cat responded. "I just wanted to make sure you were serious about it."

"I'm totally serious about this, Cat", Tori said assuredly.

"Really, because last time I checked you said you weren't interested in me. At all. What changed?"

"I've been doing a lot of thinking lately", Tori admitted. "About you, and us and well, everything. I lied to you, Cat. I've … had feelings for you for a while now."

"So you're finally admitting that the kiss wasn't a mistake?"

"It definitely wasn't a mistake."

"I was right then? You do like me?"

"You're my best friend, Cat. I do like you; I just don't want to ruin our friendship."

"So don't!" Cat smiled.

"You make it sound so easy."

"Why does it have to be hard?"

"I don't know", Tori shrugged. "This whole thing with us is just kind of … different."

"Sometimes different is good, Tori." Cat took the other girl's hand in her own. "Is this ok?"

"Yeah, it's – it's great, Cat." Tori took a deep breath as she felt those familiar butterflies returning to her stomach.

"See, I knew it", Cat said with a large grin. "I knew you liked me."

"You knew before I did", Tori replied.

"Nah, you always knew", Cat rubbed Tori's hand. "You just didn't want to admit it."

"You're probably right", Tori agreed.

"So uh, how about that ice cream now?" Cat asked shyly. "Do you still want to go?"

"Definitely, let's go." Tori stood up. "I'll get Trina to drive us when she's done … oh. Right, looks like we'll have to walk."

"I like walking!" Cat responded. "I get to see all of the pretty birds and trees and butterflies. That's where I get all my inspiration from for costumes and stuff. Want to see my sketches?"

"Sure", Tori said happily.

Cat's face lit up.

"I have something for you, actually!" Cat ran over to her bag and pulled out several of her many notepads. "I was working on it for a long time, so it wasn't finished. And even Jade said it was really good." She flipped through a couple of notepads, looking for her sketch. "Oh, here it is, right-"

Cat gasped as she flipped to the sketch of Tori she was looking for. She'd forgotten that she had scribbled all over it in pen, making it somewhat unrecognizable. Cat whimpered as she tried to hide the notepad behind her back.

"I got mad at you", she admitted to Tori as she shuffled her feet back and forth. "When you refused to admit that our kiss was real. So I ruined the picture I drew of you. But then I felt really bad about it. I forgot to make a new one. I'm sorry."

"That's … ok", Tori replied. "I don't blame you for being mad. I would have scribbled all over my face also if I could. I'm sure the picture was great, you're a great artist."

"I'm going to make you a new one", Cat promised. "Even better than the first."

"You don't have to do that, Cat."

"I know. I want to."

Tori blushed.

"Let's go get that ice cream now!" Cat jumped up and down.

"Yeah, go ahead and start walking. I just need to lock up", Tori replied. Cat was out the door and down the block before she was finished talking. Tori took a deep breath. She had done it. She got Cat before it was too late. And now they were going out together on a kind of official first date. In public. Where there would be other … people … around.

Tori leaned against the door and dropped down to her knees. She buried her head in her hands. Her body started shaking in fear. What if Cat touched her in front of everyone? What if people noticed that the two of them were sitting just a little bit too close together? What if Cat, Tori gulped, tried to kiss her again?

The sound of laughter cut through Tori's frantic thoughts. She looked in front of her house to see Cat skipping around in a circle and clapping her hands. A small smile formed on Tori's face. She wasn't going to let her fears and insecurities ruin this. Cat was clearly happy right now, and Tori intended to keep it that way. Other people – well, who said they had to know anything?

* * *

><p>"Tell me everything you know!"<p>

Jade grabbed Beck's arm and pulled him inside her house before he could even finish knocking.

"No hello kiss?" Beck asked, grinning at his girlfriend.

"Come on, Beck!"

Beck shook his head and pretended to zip his lips shut.

"Ugh, fine. Here." Jade grabbed Beck's face and swiftly brought their lips together. She let go after a second, but Beck continued to kiss her. He laughed against her lips.

"So what happened in school?" Jade asked impatiently. "Vega and Cat really do like each other?"

"You know, for someone who said they wanted absolutely no part of this, you sure sound interested." Beck raised an eyebrow suspiciously.

"Would you just tell me already?" Jade shook Beck's arm.

"What's the magic word?"

Jade sighed in defeat.

"Please?"

"Well, since you said please." Beck tapped Jade on the nose, making her growl. "You were right. Cat and Tori do like each other. I heard them talking in Sikowitz's class today. They're going on a date."

"Whoa", Jade replied in surprise. "Like a real date?"

"That's what it sounded like to me."

"Whoa", Jade repeated.

"How long do you think something has been going on between them?" Beck asked. "I mean, this all seems pretty recent."

"Yeah, I don't know, dude." Jade shrugged. "It's still really weird."

"Well, now would be a good time for you to work on that friendship thing", Beck said. "Cat and Tori are going to need our support now more than ever."

"You think maybe they don't want us to know?" Jade asked. "It's not like they told anyone. I'm sure we would have remembered some big coming out scene."

"Maybe they'll feel comfortable telling us if we let them know that we're ok with it", Beck suggested.

"And maybe this is none of our business." Jade crossed her arms. "Besides, it's Vega's fault I got suspended."

"Do you think Tori ended up telling Cat what really happened to Mr. Snickerdoodle?" Beck suddenly wondered aloud.

"Who knows?" Jade replied. "If she didn't, then their relationship is already off to a bad start. Lies aren't good to have hanging over you like that."

"That's pretty insightful, Jade", Beck noted. "Why don't you have a nice talk with Tori, your friend, and tell her that?"

"Man, you just don't give up, do you?" Jade glared at her boyfriend.

Beck smirked.

"And you're not going to stop until I'm at total BFF status with Vega and Cat, are you?"

Beck shook his head.

"What is it you want me to do exactly?" Jade asked.

"Just talk to them! Let them know that you're cool with whatever is going on between them and offer your emotional support."

"That sounds like a lot of work." Jade frowned.

"How about you talk to Tori, and I talk to Cat?" Beck offered. "This way we can both show them that we care and support them."

"Why do I have to talk to Vega? That's not how I want to spend my first day back at school tomorrow!"

"Would you rather talk to Cat and risk losing your patience, freaking out with scissors and getting suspended again?"

Jade groaned.

"…I'll talk to Vega."


	15. The Secret Life of Tori Vega

**Chapter Fifteen**

**The Secret Life of Tori Vega**

"Tori, I can't see what I'm doing!"

Cat squinted her eyes, but it did no good. They were at the park, sitting underneath a large shell-like thing. How it was meant for children to play in was beyond Cat. There were no windows or a door to get in; it was nearly pitch black. The only way in was to crawl under it, and it was only three feet or so high on the inside. Tori had made Cat run all the way here from the ice cream place, insisting it was the best place to eat in private.

"It's all right, Cat", Tori said assuringly. "Just imagine in your head that there's light."

"Kay kay", Cat replied in an unsure tone. She pretended that someone had just flipped on a light switch and reached her hand out to the spot where she believed she had dropped her spoon.

"Ow, my eye!" Tori squealed.

"I'm sorry, Tori!" Cat apologized worriedly. "I didn't see you there. What are you doing laying on the ground?"

"I'm looking for my ice cream. I put it down and now I can't find it."

"And I can't find my spoon!" Cat stated. "Maybe we should eat outside. The weather is so beautiful today."

"No!" Tori frantically said. "I mean … it's nice in here. I like it. Don't you?"

"Sure, Tori", Cat lied as she bit her lip. She felt her stomach growling. The ice cream was probably going to melt any minute now, and she wanted nothing more than to eat it. She'd just have to do it without a spoon. Cat tried to direct the cup towards her lips. She ended up with no ice cream in her mouth, but a now very cold and wet nose.

"Tori, I can't really eat like this", Cat said shyly. She stuck out her tongue and tried to lick the ice cream off of her nose, but couldn't reach. "Let's go sit at one of the nice picnic tables."

"But – it's so … crowded outside!" Tori spurted out. "There's a lot of people at the park today."

"It's a little more crowded in here", Cat replied with a shrug.

"I just thought you might want to eat together in private", Tori said. She reached out to rub Cat's arm but couldn't find it in the dark.

Loud banging sounds suddenly came from above. Both Cat and Tori looked up even though they couldn't see anything. They heard the sound of laughter, and realized that children were jumping up and down on top of the shell-like thing.

"Do you hear that also?" Cat asked quietly. "Because if you don't, then I don't hear anything either."

"Yeah, I hear it", Tori agreed. "I guess kids usually play on this thing. Let's get out of here. You first."

Cat nodded, got onto her knees and carefully crawled out. She fixed her hair and waved happily at the three children who were laughing and playing. The kids stopped what they were doing and stared. Cat shrugged. She waited for Tori to come out, but she didn't.

"Tori?" Cat frowned. "Where are you?"

The three children looked at Cat as if she was crazy. Then they all looked at each other and ran off. Tori stuck her head out from under the shell-like thing.

"Is anyone looking in this direction?"

Cat glanced around.

"No, why?"

Quickly Tori pulled herself out and onto her feet. She brushed the dirt off of her shirt and jeans.

"Are you hiding from someone?" Cat asked anxiously. "Are we being followed or something?"

"No, of course not." Tori shook her head.

"Because all afternoon you've been looking around to see who's watching us. Why have you been making me walk a few feet ahead of you? And why did you make me wait outside while you went in to buy our ice creams?"

"Did you want to buy our ice creams instead?" Tori asked nervously.

"No", Cat replied. "It just seems like you're … not really into this date thing all of the sudden." Cat looked down at the ground and stuck her hands in her pockets.

"I am into this, Cat, I swear!" Tori said. She hastily took the redhead's hand and rubbed it with her thumb. "I'm just a little nervous, that's all."

"Don't be nervous, Tori." Cat smiled and pulled Tori's hand closer before Tori could pull it back. "I'm here with you. Together the two of us can handle anything, remember?"

"I remember." Tori gulped. She felt the eyes of everyone at the park staring at the two of them. Staring at their intertwined hands; talking amongst themselves. Tori could see all of their disgusted faces. She let go of Cat's hand.

"We need to get new ice cream", Tori said quickly. "I don't think we'll be able to get our other ones back."

"Should I wait here while you go?" Cat asked quietly.

"No, you can come", Tori replied. "Let's hurry before they close."

Tori started walking and Cat happily followed. After they were out of the park Cat stopped in place and wrinkled her nose.

"My nose is cold!" Cat cried. "It feels like snow. But the sun's out and it's warm!"

Tori stopped also and turned around to walk back to where Cat was. She looked at the redhead's face and smiled. She hadn't noticed it before, but Cat had a small wet white spot on her nose. Cat crossed her eyes to see, but couldn't. Tori giggled at how adorable and confused the other girl looked.

"It's not snow. You have ice cream on your nose", Tori said.

"Oh yeah", Cat said with a content sigh. "I thought maybe the polar ice caps were melting or something. My brother says that soon polar bears are going to get really warm and the snow on them is going to melt off so they'll be regular colored bears."

"Really?" Tori chuckled affectionately. "So polar bears are white because they're covered in snow?"

"No polar bears are white because they don't get to lay out in the sun too often", Cat explained.

"Oh, ok. I see." Tori nodded approvingly. "Thanks, Cat. I've always wanted to know."

"If there's anything else you're curious about, just talk to my brother", Cat replied. "He knows almost everything. Except how to use manners. Or how to tie his shoelaces."

Tori laughed and smiled at Cat. She once again looked at the ice cream spot on the redhead's nose.

"Here, let me help you get that off before it leaves a stain", Tori said. "Just kidding", she added at the sudden look of horror on Cat's face.

Tori leaned in close to the redhead and tenderly used her thumb to wipe the ice cream off of Cat's nose. She could feel Cat's breath on her face. Right on cue, the stomach butterflies arrived. They gazed into each other's eyes for a few seconds. Tori felt as if the two of them were the only two people in the world.

Cat closed her eyes and tilted her head. She slowly moved her face towards Tori's. The sound of a car's engine starting reminded Tori that they were in public. Quickly, she turned her head to the side so that Cat ended up kissing her on the cheek. Cat opened her eyes and looked at Tori in puzzlement.

"That's weird. I was trying to kiss your lips, but I missed", Cat said.

"Oh, that - that's ok", Tori replied nervously. "We really need to hurry to get that ice cream."

"Could I try to kiss you again if we don't get the ice cream?" Cat asked.

"Uh, yeah." Tori's legs started trembling.

"Ok good, because I'd rather kiss you right now." Cat smiled flirtatiously, making Tori's heart pound.

Once again Cat closed her eyes, tilted her head and moved towards Tori. Tori looked around them. There were people in every single direction. People who she was sure would stop whatever they were doing to gawk at the two teenage girls about to kiss. People who might say hurtful things. Things that would hurt Tori. Things that would hurt Cat. And hurting Cat was completely out of the question.

"Come", Tori said, grabbing the redhead's hand. She pulled her back into the park and tried to find an area that was empty. A very large tree off to the side caught Tori's eye, so she walked Cat towards the tree and sat them both down behind it. It was big enough to hide the two of them from view.

"Do you want to climb the tree to kiss?" Cat questioned.

"No, here's fine", Tori answered timidly. She ran her hands through her hair. It was now or never. And now would make Cat happy.

Tori smiled and took Cat's hands in her own. Before continuing, she checked to see if anyone was watching and thankfully no one was. For the third time, Cat closed her eyes, tilted her head and moved her face towards Tori's. This time, Tori was ready. Her body was shaking as Cat got closer and closer but she closed her eyes and allowed Cat's lips to cover her own. It started off sweet and simple, but then Tori felt something that sent an electrical shock through her body. Cat's tongue was pressing against her teeth, wanting Tori to open her mouth.

Cat put one of her hands onto Tori's shoulder and moved her body closer. She ran her tongue along Tori's teeth again, and her body jerked when the others girl's mouth opened slightly. She slipped her tongue around Tori's, making both girls shiver. Tori was astounded. Who knew cute, silly, innocent, adorable Cat knew how to kiss like this?

Tori opened up her eyes to make sure they were still not being watched. The coast was clear but she couldn't shake the feeling that someone could spot them at any second. Not at all wanting to, she pulled her lips off of Cat's. The redhead still had her eyes closed and was breathing heavily.

"Did I do something wrong?" Cat asked, taking a break between every other word to inhale and exhale.

"No, it's just that we have school tomorrow and I've got a ton of work to do", Tori lied. She actually had no homework at all for once.

"Oh," Cat replied sadly. "Can I help you with any of it?"

"It's math."

"Never mind."

The long walk over to Cat's house was quiet. When they got there, Tori wasn't sure whether or not to walk Cat to the door. They stood in front of the house, a few feet apart, looking around in awkward silence.

"My dad can drive you home if you want", Cat offered quietly.

"It's ok. I texted Trina to tell my mom to come and pick me up. Hopefully she actually told her."

"Come inside while you wait."

Though the urge to finally see the inside of Cat's house and meet her much talked about family was strong, Tori shook her head.

"My mom should be here soon. I'll uh … see you in school tomorrow?"

"Yeah, sure." Cat was smiling but Tori heard the glum tone in the other girl's voice. "Bye, Tori."

Cat hesitantly leaned in for a quick goodbye kiss, but Tori threw her arms out and hugged the redhead instead. Cat sighed and hugged back. She let go a few seconds later and waved before heading inside of her house.

Tori stared at the front door, suddenly wanting Cat to come back outside, grab her and kiss her. But she didn't. With a frown, Tori pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and texted Trina to ask their mom to pick her up.

* * *

><p>Tori and her mother entered their house to find quite a peculiar sight in the living room. Trina was sprawled out on the couch and sitting next to her with arms crossed was a very annoyed looking Jade. Trina was moaning and groaning and didn't at all acknowledge the girl next to her.<p>

"What's going on?" Mrs. Vega asked, putting her pocketbook down on the nearby table. "I thought you were in bed, Trina."

Trina groaned in response. She weakly raised her hand and pointed to Jade.

"She came downstairs to answer the door", Jade said while looking down at her fingernails. "Then she asked me to carry her to her room and I said no."

"What are you doing here?" Tori asked Jade.

"I have no idea", Jade replied in a monotone. "I should have left a half hour ago but your sister claimed you'd be home soon."

"Come on Trina, I'll help you up", Mrs. Vega said. She took Trina's arms and pulled her to her feet. Trina whined and fell back down onto the couch.

"My back is killing me!" Trina exclaimed.

"You walked down those stairs and opened the door quick enough when I rang the bell", Jade said.

"Did she now?" Mrs. Vega looked at her eldest daughter suspiciously. "Trina, if you walk up to your room by yourself right now I'll buy you some new boots."

Trina was up and running as soon as her mother said "buy you".

"I meant I'd buy her new boots for her birthday next year", Mrs. Vega finished. "I'll be upstairs if you girls need me."

Tori took a seat on the other couch and looked at Jade expectantly. Jade looked up and gave Tori a dirty glare before continuing to examine her nails.

"So why did you come over here?" Tori asked.

"To talk to you", Jade finally said as she looked Tori in the eyes.

"About what?"

"About how weird you've been acting lately."

"I haven't -"

"Save it, Vega. You've been acting weird and you know it."

"You've already told me that", Tori said exasperatedly. "What do you want Jade?"

Jade stood up and pointed her finger at Tori's face.

"Look, I didn't want to come here, but Beck told me to. He's been making me nuts with all this talk about me having friends, and forming relationships. The only relationship I'm interested in is the one I have with Beck, so that's why I'm here. Because I love him."

"What does that have to do with me?" Tori asked.

Jade sat down next to Tori.

"I love Beck", she said simply.

"I know that!" Tori replied. "And?"

"And when you love someone you sometimes have to do things that you don't want to do. You go completely against what you want just to make them happy. And in return they do the same for you."

"So?" Tori gulped.

"Don't you know that feeling?" Jade asked. "Wanting to do anything just to make someone happy?"

Sweat started forming on Tori's face. It was like Jade could read her mind and see her innermost thoughts. It was making Tori incredibly uncomfortable.

"I like making all people happy", Tori said softly. Her hands started twitching.

"Anyone in particular?" Jade questioned.

"I-I …", Tori stammered.

"I'm just gonna say it." Jade rolled her eyes. "Beck and I know what's been going on between you and Cat. And I'm sure we're not the only ones. You two haven't exactly been subtle. I mean, that big fight you had yesterday at the Asphalt Café over 'Robbie'? Please."

"We _were_ fighting over Robbie", Tori fibbed.

"I'm trying to be straight with you here, Vega. Even though you may not be so straight yourself." Jade chuckled at that. "Cat told me you guys kissed twice. And Beck overheard you two talking about going on a date today. I'm guessing that's where you were before, right?"

"Yeah", Tori admitted in defeat. She wanted to run upstairs and lock herself in her bedroom but her whole body was immobile.

"So you and Cat like each other?"

"Yeah." Tori's voice was barely a whisper.

"How long have you two been dating each other behind everyone's back?"

"Today was … it was the first time."

"I see." Jade nodded.

"What do you want, Jade?" Tears began to form in Tori's eyes. "Are you here to make fun of me and call me names? Are you here to tell me that tomorrow at school you're going to tell everyone that Tori Vega likes girls?"

"Is that true?" Jade asked.

"I don't know … I like Cat."

"Why do you always assume the worst of me, Vega?" Jade pretended to look sad. "Have I ever given you a reason to do that?"

"All the time, Jade", Tori replied.

"Well, then let me surprise you", Jade said. "I'm not going to tell anyone. Yet. But only if you do what I say."

"What?" Tori asked, her heart pounding.

"Tell Cat who really killed Mr. Snickerdoodle", Jade answered plainly. "I suggest you do it as soon as possible, otherwise I'll be forced to out you to the entire school."

Tori's body started quivering.

"Why would you do that?" she almost cried.

"Because it was a dumb thing to lie about in the first place", Jade explained. "And it ended up getting me suspended. I'd threaten your sister instead, but I don't know any dirty secrets about her."

"Jade … please don't!" Tori begged. "Cat will hate me for lying to her for so long."

"Cat can't hate anybody", Jade said. "And don't be so upset. I'm offering you a chance for a free slate here. Tell the truth and you and Cat can be together with nothing hanging over your heads. Unless it's just not that serious between you two."

"It is serious!" Tori insisted. "I really like her, Jade. I – I love her!"

Tori's felt her heart lift as she realized she truly meant what she had said. Jade smiled satisfactorily.

"Then do the right thing, Tori. I don't like admitting this, but Cat is one of my best friends. Though I don't get you being in love with her at all. Most of the time, Cat and I can't even hold a normal conversation without her going off on some completely unrelated tangent."

"That's just how Cat is!" Tori replied fiercely. "She's a little random. Actually very random. And she's kind of weird. But she's … she's an amazing person. She's sweet, and loving, and passionate about anything she does."

"Wow I'm impressed", Jade said. "You actually sound like you mean everything you just said."

"I do mean it."

"Well, I guess outing you at school means outing Cat also", Jade mused. "And I'm not going to do that to my best friend. She's too innocent and sweet to handle such harsh criticism from ignorant jerks."

"So you won't tell anyone?" Tori asked hopefully.

"I never was going to", Jade admitted with a shrug. "That's too mean even for me. And I've cut people's hair off with scissors."

Tori sighed in relief.

"Thank you, Jade."

"Don't thank me. Just do the right thing. Then you two will be all right."

Jade stood up to leave.

"By the way, Beck wants the four of us to go out tomorrow night", she said. "Kind of like a double date thing. Though I guess you're trying to keep your relationship a secret?"

"…Yeah, for now", Tori admitted as she bit her lip.

"Then I guess we won't call it a double date. Beck just wants you guys to know that we support you totally and completely."

"You do?" Tori asked.

"Sure, totally and completely", Jade repeated in a monotone. "We'll finalize the details and everything tomorrow at school, I guess." She walked towards the door and went to open it.

"Jade?" Tori suddenly called out as the other girl was about to leave the house.

"What?"

"…Thanks. You're a good friend."

Jade sighed as she rolled her eyes and left without looking back. Tori smiled at the open door and then went over to close it. She went back over to the couch and sat down. For a few minutes, she didn't move. Just sat there, wondering what could possibly be coming next.

Meanwhile at the top of the stairs sat Trina, with her eyes widened and her mouth open in shock.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: Hey readers! Just wanted to give you all a heads up about this story. We've got three chapters left! Yeah, I can't believe it's almost over. I've got the next chapter all done and I plan to have the rest all finished before the end of the week. I've known the ending of this story since I first started it. So just some info about my uploading schedule - I'm sticking to my MondayWednesday for now until I've completely finished writing. Then I'll upload a chapter a day because hey - why wait? Thanks to everyone for the views and reviews and I'll see you again very soon!**


	16. To Tell The Truth

**Chapter Sixteen**

**To Tell The Truth**

There was a knock at the door and Trina immediately raced downstairs past her sister who was sitting on the couch watching television.

"Looks like you're all better now!" Tori noted loudly.

Trina opened the door and let Cat into the house. Tori looked over and grinned.

"Hey, Cat!" she said cheerily. "Did you forget something?"

"Actually, Trina asked me to come over", Cat replied. "She said she had candy for me."

"Yeah, I lied about the candy", Trina admitted. "I just wanted to make sure you'd come over as soon as possible.

Cat looked sad at that and so Tori went into the kitchen to find any candy they had around. She went through the cabinets and drawers, and even looked in the fridge but there was nothing sweet. It looked like Mr. Vega had finally gotten rid of it all, after months of threatening to. Instead, Tori grabbed an apple from the fruit basket and handed it to Cat, hoping it would suffice.

"Candy apple?" Cat asked curiously.

"Sorry, regular apple", Tori said.

Cat took a bite and giggled.

"Why did you want me to come over?" she asked Trina with her mouth full.

Trina took a deep breath and nervously ran her hands through her hair. She looked at her sister, gave a wink and a small grin and then spoke.

"There's something you should know, Cat. And I have to be the one to tell you the truth because this only involves me."

Tori's eyes widened and she covered her mouth. Was Trina being serious right now?

"I'm really the one who killed Mr. Snickerdoodle", Trina quickly admitted.

Cat didn't respond for a few seconds, she stood there with the apple in her hand and a bewildered expression on her face.

"You didn't kill Mr. Snickerdoodle", Cat finally said. "That boy who used to have long hair but not anymore because Jade cut it off did."

"No, Cat, it was me", Trina replied awkwardly. "I pulled into the parking lot that morning and heard a sound like I ran over something. When I got out of the car to check I saw the dead cat."

Cat looked completely shocked. She looked over at Tori to see her reaction and she looked just as astonished.

"I'm sorry I never told you about it", Trina continued. "I wanted to but once you got it in your head that that boy killed Mr. Snickerdoodle, I decided to go along with it. That's why I haven't been able to drive for a while. My dad took my car keys away."

"You - you really killed Mr. Snickerdoodle?" Cat's expression was incredibly upset, one that the Vega girls had never been seen before.

"Yes." Trina nodded.

Cat dropped down onto the couch and hugged her legs close to her chest. Tori looked at her sister, not believing what she had just seen and heard. Why was Trina doing this? What was her angle? Why hadn't she mentioned Tori being in the car also and knowing what happened this whole time?

"Jade got suspended because I told her that boy killed Mr. Snickerdoodle. She attacked him for me and got suspended because of it", Cat cried.

"Yeah, Jade was pretty pissed off at me when she found out", Trina responded guiltily. "More so than usual."

"Jade knew?" Cat asked, tears slowly flowing down her face. "How did she find out?"

"I told her", Trina lied. "Actually she kind of forced it out of me. Jade's pretty good at doing that."

"Who else knew?" Cat asked, wiping her nose with her sleeve.

"No one." Trina looked at Tori. "Just me and Jade. I'm really sorry, Cat."

Cat was silent. Trina didn't know what to say next. Tori knew what she had to do, but Cat was already a bit upset from their date earlier. She didn't want to hurt the redhead anymore. Then she remembered what Jade had said. Lies were not a good thing to have around in a relationship. Tori trusted what Jade had to say about relationships, after all, she had been in one with Beck for over two years now.

Taking a deep breath, Tori went over to the couch and sat down next to Cat. She laid her hand on Cat's leg.

"Cat", Tori started. She was unable to look the other girl in the eyes. "I … also knew what Trina did. I-I was in the car with her when it happened. I didn't realize until we were outside watching Sikowitz bury Mr. Snickerdoodle."

Cat's eyes found Tori's. They were full of tears. Tori felt her eyes well up also.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Cat whispered. "This whole time you know? Why didn't you tell me?"

"I … I didn't want you to be upset!" Tori admitted. "Except … that excuse sounds really stupid now. I only made things worse. Jade got suspended and that poor boy is going to be in therapy for a long time now. I'm … I'm sorry, Cat. The last thing I wanted to do was hurt you."

"You seemed so into the murder mystery", Cat mused. "And the whole time you knew exactly who the culprit was."

"I'm so sorry, Cat", Tori apologized, rubbing the redhead's leg. "I don't know what I was thinking. I should have told you as soon as I realized. I think … maybe I was dragging it out partly because I wanted to spend extra time with you."

"I feel so dumb!" Cat cried, covering her face with her hands. "Everyone knew what really happened except for me!"

"Tori wanted to tell you", Trina suddenly piped in. "I told her not to. It's my fault."

"No, stop lying for me, Trina", Tori said fiercely. "I'm going to be completely honest here. Trina's the one who wanted to tell you, but I didn't let her."

Cat looked from one Vega sister to the other, not sure what to say to whom.

"Please don't hate me, Cat", Tori begged, her eyes wide and pleading. "I understand if you're mad just … please don't hate me."

"I don't hate you", Cat replied softly. "And I'm not mad. I'm just sad."

"I don't want you to be sad", Tori whispered so that only Cat could hear.

"I can't help being sad. I miss Mr. Snickerdoodle", Cat said. "This whole time I thought one person killed him and it turns out it was someone else. I thought we got Mr. Snickerdoodle justice when that boy admitted he was the one who did it."

"He's buried near school, right?" Trina asked.

"Yeah."

"I'll go tomorrow to visit where he's buried and I'll … apologize for killing him and ask for forgiveness. How's that, Cat?"

Cat wiped her face off.

"That might work. I visit Mr. Snickerdoodle all the time and talk to him."

"How about you? Do you forgive me?" Trina asked.

"Yeah, I do", Cat gave Trina a half-smile.

"…How about me?" Tori asked nervously.

Cat took Tori's hand and rubbed it. Tori gulped because her sister was still in the room with them. However Trina looked away and pretended not to notice.

"Of course I forgive you", Cat said kindly. "You didn't lie to hurt me. You did it so I wouldn't be hurt. Even though I still feel a little hurt anyway. At least you had good intentions, right?"

"I did, I swear", Tori replied.

"Then you're forgiven." Cat smiled. "Maybe all three of us can go visit Mr. Snickerdoodle's grave tomorrow and talk to him for a while?"

"You got it, Cat", Trina said reluctantly.

"Definitely", Tori added.

"Ok good", Cat said. "Well, I've got to go now. Thank you guys for telling me the truth. I'll text you in the morning so we can meet up."

Tori and Trina waved as Cat walked towards the front door. She glanced quickly at Tori before leaving.

"Well, that went well!" Trina said surprisedly.

"I feel awful", Tori groaned, lying down on her back. "Cat's probably much more upset than she showed us. Why did you tell her now all of the sudden? Why did you try to lie for me?"

"I think we need to have a rare sister to sister talk", Trina said seriously. "I kinda sorta overheard the conversation you were having with Jade earlier."

Tori froze.

"You did?"

"And now I understand why you've been acting the way you've been acting recently."

"Trina, I - "

"Look, I just want you to know that I support any kind of decision you make about who you want to be with. Boys, girls, something in between, whatever. It doesn't matter to me as long as you're happy. Cat seems to make you happy. And you seem to make her happy also."

"Trina - "

"You're my sister, Tori and I love you. I'll love you no matter what. Besides, you being with Cat leaves more guys available for me."

Tears started streaming down Tori's face. She threw her arms around her sister and hugged her tightly. Trina hugged back even harder. After what felt like an incredibly long time, the two sisters separated.

"I don't know if you were planning on telling Mom and Dad", Trina started.

"No, not yet", Tori replied, sniffling.

"Well, whenever you're ready to tell them, I'll be there with you. If you want me to be, that is."

"That would actually be great", Tori said earnestly. "I think I'll need all the support I can get. Especially with Dad. Mom's usually a bit more open-minded than he is. Trina … thank you so much."

"You're very welcome, baby sis. So, doesn't my incredible amount of love and support just make you want to do something really nice for me in return?" Trina asked, batting her eyelashes.

Tori laughed through her tears and rolled her eyes. She was wondering when the Trina she was most familiar with would return.

"What do you want?"

"To borrow that pretty new shirt you bought last month at the mall. You know, the one you never wore?"

"Go ahead", Tori said. "You can keep it."

"You never wore those shoes you bought that day either, did you?"

"Take them."

"And what about the -?"

"Trina, don't push it."

"Aww man!"

* * *

><p>"I think Tori's scared."<p>

"Scared of what?" Beck asked as he handed Cat a glass of water and took a seat next to her on the couch in his RV.

"Scared of being with me", Cat replied. "And what that means for her."

"That's kind of understandable", Beck said, sipping at his own glass. "Aren't you concerned about what people will think about you dating another girl?"

"No." Cat shook her head. "I don't see anything wrong with it at all. My uncle and uncle in San Francisco have been together for almost ten years. They're really happy. Actually they're now in the process of adopting a little boy from Guatemala. I'm going to be a big cousin!"

"That's great, Cat", Beck said with a genuine smile. "Congratulations, and good luck to them. But you know, not many people in the world are as accepting as you."

"Why should I care about what everyone else in the world thinks?" Cat asked. "I only care about my friends, and my family, and Tori. You think I should worry about other people's opinions?"

"Not at all", Beck answered. "But it seems like Tori cares about what other people think, right?"

"She didn't want to kiss me in public today", Cat explained. "She made us hide behind a tree. And for a while she didn't even want to walk next to me. I couldn't even hold her hand. Don't you and Jade do that sort of stuff all the time?"

"We do." Beck nodded and took another sip of water. "I'm sorry that Tori's feeling so insecure."

"She doesn't have to feel that way though", Cat said. "I don't know how to help her."

"What Tori needs is support from her friends and family", Beck replied. "People to tell her that everything is going to be all right. It might take some time, but don't worry. She'll be comfortable showing signs of affection in public eventually. You know that Tori's always been a bit self-conscious."

Cat murmured in agreement.

"Jade and I decided that tomorrow night we'd like the four of us to go out", Beck said. "Like a double date. Maybe Tori would feel more relaxed if we all went together. What do you say?"

"Where are we going to go?" Cat asked.

"Maestro's", Beck answered with a grin.

"Oh yay!" Cat clapped her hands. "I love their lobster mashed potatoes! And we get to dress up all fancy! But wait, it's really expensive to eat there, remember?"

"Yup!" Beck said. "I saved up a bunch of money from fixing cars last summer, so the prices won't be an issue. We'll all go out together, and have some fun. We'll make sure Tori knows that it's totally fine for her and you to be together."

"Kay kay!" Cat said. "You know, I'm supposed to be really mad at Tori right now, but I just can't be!"

"Why are you supposed to be mad at her?" Beck asked.

"Because she knew all along that her sister's really the one who killed Mr. Snickerdoodle and not the boy who Jade attacked with scissors and didn't tell me until today."

"She finally told you?" Beck sounded surprised. "That's great."

"Actually, Trina's the one who told me first and then Tori came clean", Cat replied nonchalantly. Then she paused. "Hey … wait a second. Why do you seem to know something about this?"

Beck gulped.

"Jade told me", he said nervously. "I'm sorry, Cat. I didn't think it was my place to get involved."

"Great." Cat threw her hands up in the air. "So just about everyone knew the truth but me."

"Well, not Robbie and Andre", Beck offered. "I really don't think they've had any idea at all what's been going on for the past couple of weeks."

"They sure have missed a lot", Cat sighed. "Andre and Tori are pretty good friends though. Maybe she told him something about us?"

"I doubt it", Beck said.

"I don't really like being kept a secret", Cat replied sadly. "Is that wrong?"

"Don't worry", Beck said assuringly. "Everything is going to be fine. I promise."

Cat smiled.

"Thanks, Beck."

"Anytime. You know, it's kinda nice having a normal conversation with you, Cat. And … really weird too. But mostly nice."

Cat giggled.

"Cheers?" She held up her almost empty glass of water. Beck took his glass also and they gently knocked the two glasses together, then took their final sips in silence.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: Well, I'm just about completely finished writing this story now. So what I'm going to do is upload the next chapter tomorrow, and the final chapter on Friday. Kinda cool that the story ends on a Friday, right? No? Eh. <strong>

**A big thanks to everyone who's been sticking with me so far, and to those who are just discovering my story now. Now let's finish this on a high note! Yay!**


	17. Seven's A Crowd

**Chapter Seventeen**

**Seven's A Crowd**

Tori anxiously stared out of the car window, watching the buildings fly by. She had her hands folded on her shaking knees. The sweat was already pouring down the side of her face, and she had only left her house ten minutes ago. Her shoes felt like they could slide off her feet any second. Why had she agreed to do this again?

"Jade just picked up Cat so they're on they're way to the restaurant now", Beck said from the front seat as he quickly checked his phone.

Oh right, that's why.

Beck was driving much faster than he usually did. Tori wished he would slow down. She was starting to feel a little nauseous, and the quicker they drove, the quicker they'd get to Maestro's. Maybe Beck would forget the way there, and they'd have to cancel the dinner plans. Maybe the restaurant would be closed due to a roach infestation. Or mice. Yeah, mice would be worse.

"You better not order another six hundred dollars worth of caviar!" came a rude voice from next to Tori, snapping her out of her disturbing thoughts.

"It was an accident!" Robbie protested to Rex. "Who knew those delicious little fish eggs were so expensive?"

"Clearly someone who has no class when it comes to dining", Rex replied. "Everyone knows that caviar is for old, rich, fancy people. Not geeky little nerds with glasses and no game."

"I have game!" Robbie exclaimed. "And there's nothing wrong with being intelligent!"

"Never said you were!" Rex shot back.

"Hey!" Beck said, turning around to face them. "No arguing in the car or else the puppet rides in the trunk."

"Sorry", Rex and Robbie said together sheepishly.

Tori looked at Robbie and frowned. He wasn't even supposed to be there with them tonight. It was bad enough when Andre overheard her, Cat, Beck and Jade discussing their plans during lunch at school. Thankfully the phrase "double date" had not been mentioned at all.

Andre had assumed that the four of them had planned a little get together for everyone. No one wanted to tell him the real purpose of going to Maestro's so he was invited by default. Then Robbie walked up and Andre just had to tell him what was going on, so he ended up being invited also. And if Robbie was going, he of course had to bring Rex.

Thankfully Trina was still being really nice, so when Tori told her where she was going tonight, Trina wished her luck and didn't invite herself for once. Beck arrived at Tori's house two minutes before he told her he'd be there. Robbie and Rex were already in the car. Jade had taken her own car to pick up Cat and Andre, since the three of them lived closer to each other.

It was awkward being in the same car with Robbie, knowing that he probably still had some feelings for Cat. Tori was certain that he had no idea what was going on between herself and the redhead. This was partially because he had mentioned asking Cat out on another date. Tori wanted badly to tell him to back off and find a different girl, but her pride had sewn her lips shut so she simply smiled.

"We're almost there", Beck said as he stopped at a red light.

"Great", Tori replied nervously.

"It's going to be a great night, don't worry", Beck told her. "No stress, no craziness, just fun."

Tori quickly nodded and prayed that Beck was right.

* * *

><p>Tori tried to remember to breathe as she, Beck and Robbie got out of Beck's car and began walking towards the restaurant. She could see Cat's red hair from a block away, as well as a scowl on Jade's face. Robbie and Rex were having another loud argument about some outer space television show as they walked. Beck was keeping his eyes on Tori, to make sure she didn't try to run away.<p>

The three of them approached Cat, Jade, and Andre. Everyone was dressed nicely. Tori looked Cat up and down. The redhead was wearing a pearl white dress, which made her hair really stand out. The dress also happened to be quite short. Tori's heart started pounding; she had never noticed how … nice Cat's legs were before.

"Hey guys, let's go in", Andre spoke up. "I'm ready to get my eat on!"

"Yes, let's do this so we can leave", Jade replied bitterly. "Or did everyone forget that it's a school night and I just got finished with a suspension?" She whipped her head around to face Tori.

"Come on, let's go", Beck said, putting his hand on Jade's back and leading her towards the entrance.

Cat happily bounced up to Tori.

"Hi Tori, you look really pretty tonight", she said, beaming.

"You too, Cat." Tori felt her face heating up. "I really like your legs – uh – I mean your dress. I really like your dress."

Cat giggled and took Tori's arm as the two of them walked inside. Andre and Robbie turned to face each other and shrugged before following the girls.

The group was brought to a table immediately; Maestro's was not very crowded at all. Instead of live entertainment, slow piano music could be heard playing through speakers. Tori sat at the very end of the table, Cat took the seat next to her. Then Andre sat, followed by Beck, Jade and then Robbie at the other end. Rex had asked for his own table, but Jade yanked Robbie away before the confused waitress could respond.

Tori looked around. No one seemed to be paying them any attention. Good, she thought. Maybe things would be ok after all. As long as Cat didn't try anything. Tori looked at the redhead sitting next to her. She definitely looked amazing tonight. Now that she thought about it, Tori kind of wanted Cat to try something.

"So, the usual dishes, guys?" Beck asked. Everyone nodded or murmured in agreement. The waiter took their order and left. Robbie and Rex started arguing again and Beck, Jade and Andre started another conversation. Cat turned to Tori.

"Do you think they tried making the lobtatoes yet?" she asked. "I bet they'd be delicious."

"I don't know, Cat", Tori replied. "But they definitely should have. I'd try a lobtato if they had one."

"Maybe we could split one?" Cat offered.

"Sure", Tori said. "You could have the lobster part and I'll take the potato."

Cat giggled and covered her mouth. Tori grinned at the other girl's complete adorableness. How could she not want to hold Cat's hand or kiss her in public? Tori was just about to reach for the redhead's hand when a waitress came by and gave everyone a glass of water. Immediately Tori pulled her hand back. Cat didn't notice, but Beck was watching and he did. He took a deep breath and wondered what he could possibly do to help.

* * *

><p>By the time dessert came around, everyone was comfortable and chatting amongst themselves. Beck continued to watch Cat and Tori interact, and Jade kept watching Beck. She was baffled as to why he was so concerned with those girls and their relationship. Robbie had been talking to Jade for a few minutes now, but she wasn't listening at all.<p>

Cat had finished her dessert in less than thirty seconds and was staring at Tori's half-full plate of cake. Tori saw the other girl eying her dessert and laughed. She took a piece of the cake with her fork and held it up to Cat's mouth. Cat squealed happily and ate the cake off the fork right away. Tori chuckled, and the two girls stared into each other's eyes. Beck watched and smiled in approval.

Cat took Tori's hand. Right away Tori felt the hot stares of everyone in the restaurant. She could just see all of their dirty looks. She slowly slid their hands off and under the table to hide them. Cat looked slightly disappointed. The music playing on the speakers was a bit more upbeat now. Beck bit his lip and decided it was finally time to take action. He stood up and cleared his throat.

"What are you doing?" Jade asked. Beck ignored her and went to stand behind Andre's seat.

"Hey man, get up", Beck said, putting his hands on Andre's shoulders.

"Why? I'm full", Andre replied, rubbing his stomach.

"Dance with me", Beck requested.

"Say what now?"

"Dance with me", Beck repeated.

"You're crazy, dude."

"Come on man, one dance, that's it."

"I don't think so." Andre shook his head.

"Oh come on!"

"Don't you think it's a little weird for two dudes to be getting their tango on in the middle of a fancy restaurant?" Andre asked.

"No, it's not weird at all", Beck replied, looking right at Tori, who was watching him in shock. Beck grabbed Andre's arm and dragged him over to the dance floor.

"Can I ask you what you're trying to do?" Andre questioned.

"Just dance", Beck replied, looking at Cat and Tori.

Andre shrugged and wrapped his arms around Beck's neck. Beck spun them around in a circle a few times and continued to dance with Andre around the restaurant. Many of the other patrons and staff stopped what they were doing to stare and laugh. Robbie sat there in confusion. Cat and Tori were stunned; they couldn't keep their mouths closed.

Jade was watching her boyfriend dance with Andre in complete disbelief. He was making a complete fool out of himself! And for what? For Cat and Tori? She couldn't believe how Beck was willing to sacrifice his dignity for his friends. It was as if Jade was seeing her boyfriend for the first time. She felt her heart lift with pride and love as she watched him. Beck twirled Andre towards himself and caught Jade's eye. He motioned for her to join them.

Jade looked down at the floor and tapped her feet. She then glanced back to Andre and Beck who were now attempting to pick each other up off the ground. Shaking her head, not believing what she was about to do, she stood up and went over to Robbie.

"All right, let's go", she said, crossing her arms.

"I really shouldn't", Robbie objected nervously. "I'm pretty uncoordinated on my feet. It might be dangerous for all involved."

"Not you", Jade snapped. "The puppet."

"Now that's what I'm talking about!" Rex exclaimed happily.

Jade grabbed Rex, but Robbie refused to let go.

"He can't dance without me there to supervise!" Robbie protested.

"Then both of you, let's go. Now", Jade demanded. She started to walk with Robbie and Rex over to the dance floor. Then she turned around to face Cat and Tori.

"You guys coming or are you going to be the only losers not dancing?" Jade asked. She took hold of Rex's arms and started to dance with him, while Robbie stood there holding the puppet awkwardly.

Cat stood up and walked towards the others but noticed Tori had not gotten up. She turned around and hesitantly sat back down at the table. Tori looked at Beck and Andre, who were swinging each other back and forth, then at Jade who was trying to dance under Rex's tiny arm. A bunch of guests were staring and laughing, but none of her dancing friends seemed to care. Tori suddenly focused her gaze on Cat.

"I want to dance", she confidently told the redhead.

Cat clapped happily and stood up once again. She grabbed Tori's arm and led her to the dance floor. The girls started out dancing separately, but over time the music seemed to get louder and they got closer to each other. Tori saw her friends dancing all around her, everyone looking completely ridiculous. It seemed as if they were the only people in the restaurant. She moved towards Cat, grabbed her hips and pulled their bodies together. Cat inhaled sharply and threw her head back.

Tori wrapped her arms around Cat's waist, who in turn wrapped her arms around Tori's neck. They moved together to the music, back and forth. They were breathing heavily. Cat's bare legs were rubbing against Tori's. Beck and Andre slowly tangoed by. Beck winked at Tori as he passed. Tori smiled back at him. She looked back into Cat's eyes, whom she thought couldn't look any more beautiful.

The loud music and the feeling of Cat's warm skin made Tori's head feel fuzzy. Without thinking she grabbed one of Cat's legs and wrapped it around her own. Cat moaned from deep in her throat. Tori gulped; she had never heard Cat make that sound before. It was making her whole body heat up and feel like electricity was running through it.

Tori closed her eyes and pulled Cat's face towards her own. Their lips met in a desperate kiss. Cat's hands ran through Tori's hair, while Tori's slowly moved down the redhead's back.

"Whoa", came a sudden surprised voice.

Andre was in the process of being dipped by Beck, so he was viewing the kiss upside down. Jade had stopped dancing with Rex to watch as well. Robbie's expression kept switching from excited to like someone had slapped him across the face.

"If I'm dreaming, someone please don't pinch me yet", Andre said distantly.

"Ew, Andre. Stop being weird", Jade demanded.

Tori and Cat quickly pulled apart. They couldn't look their friends in the face; they were both staring at the floor, blushing.

"Wow", Beck said with a shy smile. "Looks like tonight worked out well for you guys after all, huh?"

"Yeah, welcome to the world outside of the closet", Jade added as she clapped her hands together slowly. "You two sure know how to come out with a bang."

Neither Tori nor Cat answered, they were still blushing profusely. Tori's heart was beating a mile a minute. Every single person in the restaurant was now staring at them. One waiter was holding out a tray full of food to a couple, but all three of them had frozen in place. Andre shook his head to snap out of his dream-like state.

"Whether this is real or not, I'm liking it so let's keep dancing!" he shouted. All of the kids cheered loudly and gathered into a circle where they continued dancing all together.

* * *

><p>"I can't believe they kicked us out of Maestro's", Robbie said unhappily as he and everyone else sat in a line on the curb outside of the restaurant.<p>

"Who knew we weren't supposed to dance in there?" Beck asked with a shrug.

"Dance?" Jade exclaimed. "No, we got kicked out because these two got all hot and heavy." She pointed at Cat and Tori.

"I think it might have been our man tango", Andre suggested.

"No, it's because Rex had to keep hitting on that waitress", Robbie said.

"She was into me!" Rex protested.

"She had a wedding ring on!" Robbie retaliated.

"My brother always acts inappropriate when our family goes out to restaurants", Cat said absent-mindedly. "So we've gotten kicked out of almost every one in town. Now I can tell him that I got kicked out of the most expensive restaurant! Yay!"

Tori looked at Cat and smiled. She felt as if an enormous weight had been lifted off of her shoulders. Her friends were actually ok with her and Cat. Even Robbie seemed cool. Or if he wasn't ok with it, he definitely wasn't showing it. The exact words "Cat and Tori are together" hadn't been said by anyone, but it was blatantly obvious by what had happened at the restaurant. Or so Tori hoped.

"We better start getting home", Tori said, checking the time on her cell phone. "School tomorrow."

"Let me just run in and pay the bill", Beck replied, pulling out his wallet. "They forgot to give it to us before they kicked us out."

Cat yawned and laid her head on Tori's shoulder. Jade watched them with her arms crossed.

"You two are just adorable together", Jade said bitterly. "Stop it, you're making me ill."

"Hey", Cat suddenly said, sitting up. "I don't have my house keys with me and my parents and brother are probably sleeping by now. I don't know if I'll be able to get inside my house."

"You can stay at my house tonight", Tori offered. "We'll have a sleepover and you can run home and pick your stuff up in the morning."

"Yay! Sleepover!" Cat exclaimed happily, jumping up and down.

Tori stopped and thought for a second.

"Actually …", she began sheepishly. "Maybe sleepovers aren't the greatest idea for us anymore."

"Or they could be the greatest idea ever", Jade muttered amusedly under her breath. "Just stay at my place tonight, Cat", she said out loud. "I've got your overnight bag in the closet from last time."

"Kay kay", Cat agreed.

"I'm gonna go see what's taking Beck so long", Jade said as she walked towards the entrance of the restaurant. He was coming out as she approached, but she pulled him back inside to the lobby area.

"Eight hundred dollars, can you believe that?" Beck asked in astonishment. "I think they went and charged us more money because we were supposedly causing a scene. I'm definitely going to-"

Jade cut her boyfriend off by promptly giving him a passionate kiss. They pulled apart a few seconds later. Beck looked confused.

"That was really nice", he said. "But what was it for?"

"Because you're amazing", Jade replied sincerely. "And I love you."

"I love you too", Beck answered gently, embracing his girlfriend. "You know, I thought you were going to leave me tonight for a puppet."

Jade smirked. "Well, I thought you were going to leave me tonight for Andre."

"Nah", Beck joked. "He's a much better dancer than I am. I can't be with someone like that. It'll have too much effect on my self-esteem. Plus he's not my type."

"Oh, and what's your type?"

"You."

Jade blushed for the first time in a long time. She took Beck's hand and led him outside to meet up with their friends, which she made a mental note to refer to them as from now on.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note: Just one more chapter to go! Until tomorrow, all.<strong>


	18. An Unexpected Twist

**Chapter Eighteen**

**An Unexpected Twist**

Tori slowly walked down the empty hallways of Hollywood Arts. School wasn't meant to start for another thirty minutes or so; she just felt like getting there early. Trina had declined Tori's offer to join her. She was half-asleep at the time, but Tori had heard a distinct 'no, now leave me alone, I'm tired' in the middle of her sister's mumbles. Trina would be getting a ride to school from their father in the infamous cop car.

"Who's a little cutie? Who's a little cutie? You are! Aww. You like to lick my widdle finger, don't you?"

Tori stopped in her tracks in front of Mr. Sikowitz's classroom as she heard the voice. She thought she and the janitor would be the only two people in school at this time. Clearly she was wrong. Tori paused briefly before stepping into the classroom. Mr. Sikowitz was sitting on the floor, cradling something in his arms.

"Shhh", Mr. Sikowitz whispered to Tori. "Close the door."

"Uhh, why?" Tori asked suspiciously.

"Come and see", Mr. Sikowitz replied with a smile.

Tori reluctantly closed the door behind her and walked over to Sikowitz. She got down on her knees to see what he was holding. Wrapped up in one of his many festive sweaters was a tiny little white kitten.

"Ahhh! He's so cute!" Tori screeched and covered her mouth with her hands. "Where did you find him?"

"She", Sikowitz corrected. "Was sleeping underneath the window to my classroom when I got here this morning." He carefully handed the sweater and the cat to Tori to hold. Tori took it in her arms carefully and smiled at the adorable white ball of fluff. The kitten was closing its eyes and falling asleep. Tori was instantly reminded of Cat. So much cuteness and innocence.

"What are you going to do with her?" Tori asked.

"I'm not sure", Sikowitz replied. "I just figured I'd get her indoors so there wouldn't be any more possible incidents or funerals. Who knew we had so many cats on this campus? We should charge them admission. Or have them audition. Heh, I made a rhyme!"

Tori gently tapped the kitten's nose.

"Mrs. Snickerdoodle", she said with a nod.

"What?" asked Mr. Sikowitz.

"That's her name", Tori replied. "Mrs. Snickerdoodle."

"She's just a baby and she's married already?" Mr. Sikowitz chuckled. "Widowed, actually. Maybe I'll bring her down to the animal shelter after school. Unless of course I can find a student who goes here that's willing to take her."

"I think I know the perfect person, Mr. Sikowitz", Tori said with confidence.

* * *

><p>Cat could not take her eyes off of Jade. Everything about the usually bitter, angry girl was different this morning. When they woke up, Jade had allowed Cat to pick which kind of cereal they ate for breakfast. Then when they stopped at Skybucks, Jade actually put milk and sugar in her coffee, which she had never done before. And now as they sat in the car on the way to school, the radio was playing an upbeat pop song. Jade was even bopping her head back and forth.<p>

"Don't you want to change the station to something more … sad?" Cat asked shyly.

"No, this song's fine", Jade replied. "And stop staring at me, will you? I need to concentrate on the road."

"Are you sure that you're Jade?" Cat questioned, looking out the window at the pretty trees rushing by.

"Yup."

"Jade West?"

"Yes, Cat. I'm me."

"You're not really acting like you", Cat said.

"What can I say?" Jade responded with a shrug. "I guess I had a good time last night with everyone and the happiness hasn't faded away yet. Though I'm sure it will sometime today so watch yourself."

Jade slowly pulled into the school parking lot and into a spot close to the entrance. Both girls took off their seatbelts and got out of the car. Cat slung her backpack over her shoulder and waited for Jade to turn the car off. They started to walk towards the front doors of school when suddenly Jade stopped.

"Aw chiz, I forgot my coffee in the cup holder", Jade said. "I can't function unless I have it every single morning. I'll see you inside, go ahead. Go … hug Tori or something."

"Kay kay!" Cat said happily and she hummed to herself as she skipped into school.

Jade got her coffee out of the car and was in the middle of taking one long sip when she heard a sickening crack. She spun around to see the boy she had given the crazy scissor haircut to and a much older woman. The two of them were standing next to a dirty grey car.

"Mom, really? Again?" the boy exclaimed.

"What? What now? What did I hit?" the woman flapped her arms in confusion and spun in a circle as she looked around.

"Looks like a rat", the boy answered, looking at the ground.

"Well that's good!" said his mother. "At least it wasn't a cat like last time!"

"Mom, you need to stop dropping me off in the parking lot!" the boy protested. "Too many animals wander around here. And you're clearly vehically challenged!"

"Maybe it is time we get you those driving lessons", suggested his mother.

"Thank you!" the boy threw his arms up in the air. "Things have been crazy around here lately. I don't know how, but these three girls knew I had something to do with that cat's death. Even though some other car pulled into the spot where we left the cat. But those girls just knew it was me! They wouldn't leave me alone! That's why one of them cut all of my hair off! Remember?"

"Oh honey", the mother patted her son on the back. "You needed a haircut anyway. The long look didn't suit you."

Jade tuned them out after that. She gasped and almost dropped her coffee as she immediately hurtled into school to find Beck.

* * *

><p>Tori was just about to take a bite of her sandwich when she felt the stares of Andre and Robbie, who were sitting on either side of her. She put the sandwich back down on her tray and sighed.<p>

"Ok, you guys are really starting to freak me out", she said.

Andre and Robbie both cleared their throats and looked around the Asphalt Café.

"Come on, neither of you have said a word this whole time", Tori complained. "Someone please say something? Andre?"

"Hm?" Andre replied nervously as he pointed at himself.

"Yes, you."

"I'm sorry, Tor", Andre said guiltily. "I'm kind of still trying to process everything that happened last night. First I did a tango with Beck and then I could have sworn I saw you making out with Cat. I did see that, right?"

"Yeah", Tori responded calmly.

"Just checking", Andre replied with a nod. "It was kind of unexpected. So you and Cat. You two are uh, seeing each other?"

"Yeah", Tori said softly. "How do you … feel about that?"

"Hey, I have no problem with it at all!" Andre said gladly. "If my two good friends are happy together, then I'm happy too. Just, try to warn a brother next time before you guys kiss like that! I was upside down!"

Tori laughed and gave him a quick hug. "No problem, Andre."

"So this means I probably shouldn't ask Cat out on another date then, right?" Robbie suddenly asked.

"I'd … really prefer if you didn't", Tori answered slowly with a frown.

"Understood", Robbie replied. "Well, I wish the two of you the best of luck."

"Thanks, Robbie." Tori grinned.

"Heh, better luck next time, Rob", said Rex.

"Where's Little Red anyway?" Andre asked. "And Beck and Jade?"

"I don't know", Tori responded. "I didn't have classes with any of them this morning. I figured I'd see Cat at lunch. I wonder where everyone is?"

* * *

><p>"I don't understand", Cat said in uncertainty. "What are you trying to say?"<p>

"That you were right all along!" Jade exclaimed.

"That boy and his mother really are the ones who killed Mr. Snickerdoodle!" Beck said.

"But, Trina told me she did it!" Cat cried out. "She apologized and everything. And I really think she meant the apology for once."

"Well, Trina probably hit Mr. Snickerdoodle when he was already dead", Jade explained. "She just thought she was the one who killed him -."

"Let's not get into details", Beck interrupted as Cat's face scrunched up like she was about to cry. "But wow, Cat. You were right! How did you know that boy had something to do with it?"

"I just knew", Cat replied with a shrug. "He looked suspicious. Jade, that boy's hair is already starting to grow back a little bit. Are you going to cut it off again?"

"No, I'm done with my crazed haircuts", Jade said. "Besides, he did admit that he killed Mr. Snickerdoodle. As far as I'm concerned, justice is served."

"I have to tell Tori!" Cat suddenly said. She sped out of the school and towards the Asphalt Café. Jade and Beck hurriedly followed. They saw Tori sitting at their usual table with Robbie and Andre.

"Tori!" Cat shouted joyfully. She started running towards the other girl. Tori looked up and smiled as she saw Cat coming towards her. She stood up and began running as well. All of the other people disappeared and everything started occurring in slow motion. Tori and Cat got closer and closer to each other as they ran. Tori reached her arms out to catch the redhead, but then Cat abruptly stopped. Tori cocked her head in confusion.

Cat was staring hungrily at a group of kids who each had an ice cream in hand. They were looking back at Cat, trying to hide their cones from sight. Finally they decided to just stand up and move to another table. Tori laughed and went over to Cat, who looked a little upset until she saw her.

"Tori!" exclaimed the redhead. "Guess what?"

Tori didn't want to guess what. She brought her hands to either side of Cat's face and brought their lips together. Cat's arms wrapped around Tori as she kissed back. When they pulled apart, Tori realized that they were standing in front of a large number of Hollywood Arts students.

"And-and scene!" she stammered nervously, taking a bow.

Many of the students clapped slowly, others laughed or went on talking. Beck and Jade applauded loudly. Andre gave a thumbs up and Robbie whistled. Cat looked at Tori and playfully rolled her eyes. She took Tori's arm and dragged her back inside the school to the empty hallway.

"So we were just rehearsing a scene? Really, Tori?" Cat asked amusedly.

"I'm sorry, Cat!" Tori protested fearfully. "I'm trying. I really am."

"I know that, silly", Cat twirled around a strand of Tori's hair with her finger. "You're doing much better. Maybe we could rehearse scenes in public more often?"

"Definitely", Tori replied. "Come with me, I have to show you something."

"Oh!" Cat clapped her hands. "I have to tell you something first! Guess what? I was right. That boy really did kill Mr. Snickerdoodle!"

"What?"

"Jade overheard him talking about it with his mother today. She drops him off in the parking lot every morning and she accidently ran over Mr. Snickerdoodle. Trina thought she's the one that did it but Mr. Snickerdoodle was already …" Cat trailed off uncomfortably.

"Yeah, I got it …", Tori replied. "Cat, how – how did you?"

"I just knew." Cat smiled.

"Wait until Trina hears about this", Tori said, shaking her head. "The first time she's ever truly apologized for doing something wrong, and it's not even her fault. She'll never want to come clean again."

"Sure she will", Cat replied kindly. "You know, Trina's a lucky girl."

"Why's that?"

"Because she gets to spend every day with you."

Tori blushed as she felt the butterflies fluttering around in her stomach.

"So uh, Andre and Robbie definitely know about us now", Tori said. "I just told them. That makes five people."

"More actually." Cat bit her lip. "I told my family this morning when I dropped by to get my school stuff. Is that ok?"

"Yeah that's … great", Tori said cautiously. "Uh, how did they take it?"

"I'm not sure", Cat admitted. "They were half asleep at the time. My dad yawned at me in response."

Tori laughed quietly to herself.

"Maybe when we're both ready we can tell all of our parents together", Tori suggested. "When they're awake and alert."

"I'm ready", Cat claimed.

"By both of us, I meant me", Tori said fretfully. "I'm kind of scared."

"Well that I realized", Cat replied. "It's ok, Tori. You don't have to be scared. I'll wait for as long as you need to, and then we can tell our parents."

"Thanks, Cat." Tori took the redhead's hand.

"You said you had something to show me?" Cat reminded Tori.

"Yeah. Come on."

Tori led Cat down the hallway into Mr. Sikowitz's classroom. Their teacher was on the floor attempting to feed the kitten milk straight from his coconut. Each time he brought the straw up to the kitten's face, it would meow and stumble away.

Cat squealed happily and raced over to the kitten. Her eyes grew big and a huge grin formed on her face. She carefully picked it up and cradled it in her arms. The kitten immediately closed its eyes and drifted off to sleep. Cat hummed softly to it. Tori and Mr. Sikowitz watched in satisfaction for a few seconds, and then went over to join the redhead.

"She likes me", Cat whispered.

"Of course she does", Tori whispered back. "She's all yours to keep."

Cat gasped. "Seriously?"

"Yup", responded Mr. Sikowitz. "It was all Tori's idea. Cat, meet Mrs. Snickerdoodle."

"Thank you so much", Cat replied. She leaned over to gently peck Tori on the lips. Mr. Sikowitz coughed uncomfortably.

"Erm, I think this is the part where I slowly back out of the room and let you two have your moment", he said. Grabbing his coconut, Mr. Sikowitz left the room, closing the door shut behind him.

"Do you like her?" Tori asked Cat as they both watched the little kitten sleep.

"I love her", Cat pressed her lips to Tori's again. "And I love you", she murmured.

"You – you do?" Tori stuttered.

"Yeah", Cat replied. "I do."

"I'm so happy to hear that", Tori almost whispered. "Because I love you too. And one of these days, the world will know it. But right now, I just want you to know. Cat, I love you so -"

Cat cut Tori off with another gentle kiss. The little kitten meowed from below them, making both girls giggle. Cat put the kitten down carefully on the floor.

"Let's leave Mrs. Snickerdoodle here with Sikowitz until the end of the day", Tori suggested. "She can sleep a bit. There's still a few more minutes left of lunch. How about we go back out there, and I'll treat us to something good."

"Like what?" Cat asked.

"Oh, I don't know", Tori put her hand under her chin and pretended to think. "Something sweet."

Cat's eyes widened.

"Something cold."

Cat squealed.

"Something … with sprinkles."

Cat jumped up and down and excitedly threw her arms around Tori.

"Ice cream!" she shouted. She passed Mr. Sikowitz who was waiting by the door as she ran out of the classroom.

"That girl sure loves her ice cream!" Mr. Sikowitz commented.

"And I love her!" Tori exclaimed happily, giving her teacher a big hug before running down the empty hallway after Cat and grabbing hold of the redhead's hand when she finally caught up to her.

The End

* * *

><p><strong>Author's (Final) Note: All I have to say right now is wow. This is the first thing that I've ever written that I've actually completed. So now let me take this time to thank everyone once again.<strong>

**Thank you to everyone who read this, and enjoyed it. Thanks to those who took time to review, especially the ones that reviewed every single chapter. Thanks to those who favorited it, or just put it on story alert. Every little view and review means so much to me, you have no idea! I never expected to get so much feedback on my first story. I cannot thank you all enough.**

**... Maybe one more time. Thank you!**

**Regarding my future work: I actually think I'm going to write a Trina/Robbie story next. It's been in my head for a while now and I need to get it out. Plus it's something different, and I enjoy trying new things. That's not to say I won't be writing Cat/Tori ever again. Because I definitely will!**

**So, until next time. Thank you all again!**

**- whataboutus**


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